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A ROMAN HOLIDAY IN THE 
COLISEUM. 

NE of the doors of the vivaria was suddenly 
thrown back, and bounding forth with a roar 
that seemed to shake the walls of the amphithea- 
tre a lion of huge dimensions leaped upon the 
arena. Majesty and power were inscribed upon his 
lordly limbs ; and as he stood there where he had 
first sprung, and looked round upon the multitude, 
how did his gentle eye and noble carriage, with 
which no one for a moment could- associate cruelty, 
cast shame upon the human monsters assembled 
to behold unarmed Christians torn limb from limb ! 
. . . The doors of the vivaria were again flung 
open, and a hundred of their fierce tenants, mad- 
dened both by hunger and the goads that had 
been applied, rushed forth, and in the fury with 
which, in a single mass, they fell upon Probus — 
then kneeling upon the sands— and, burying him 
beneath them, no one could behold his fate, nor 
when that dark troop separated, and ran howling 
about the arena in search of other victims, could 
the eye discover the least vestige of that holy man. 
—Described in "Atirelian, Emperor of Rome" by 
William Ware. 

" The lion's feet, the lion's lips, are dyed with crimson gore, 

A look of faith, an unbreathed prayer, the martyr's pangs 
are o'er. 

Proud princes and grave senators gazed on that fearful 
sight, 

And even women seemed to share the savage crowd's de- 
light; 

But what the guilt that on the dead a fate so fearful drew ? 

A blameless faith was all the crime the Christian witness 
knew." 



A 
CLOUD OF WITNESSES 



THE GREATEST MEN IN THE WORLD FOR 
CHRIST AND THE BOOK. 



AN EXHAUSTIVE AND UNPRECEDENTED COLLECTION OF BIOGRAPHIC 
AND AUTOGRAPHIC OPINIONS RESPECTING THE AUTHOR OF 
CHRISTIANITY AND THE BIBLE, FROM NEARLY EIGHT 
HUNDRED ILLUSTRIOUS PERSONAGES OUT- 
SIDE THE CLERICAL PROFESSION : 

KINGS, PRESIDENTS, SENATORS, CONGRESSMEN, PARLIAMENTARIANS, DIPLOMATS, 
PHILOSOPHERS, SCIENTISTS, POETS, AUTHORS, HISTORIANS, ARTISTS, PHIL- 
ANTHROPISTS, REFORMERS. EDUCATORS, LAWYERS, PHYSICIANS, SOL- 
DIERS, JOURNALISTS. FINANCIERS, GOVERNORS OF STATES, 
LEADERS OF GREAT MOVEMENTS, AND THE ACKNOWL- 
EDGED REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE OLD 
WORLD AND THE NEW 

BY 

STEPHEN ABBOTT NORTHROP. 



Great Authorities are great arguments. — Daniel Webster. 

Shall we never listen to the words of these wisest of men? — T^uskin. 

No sadder proof can be given a man of his own littleness than disbelief in 
great men. — Carlyle. 

Why may not laymen instruct in the general principles of Christianity as 
well as ecclesiastics }— Judge Story. 



3llustrate&. i* m t _ 






THE MASON LONG PUBLISHING CO. 

FORT WAYNE, INDIANA. 

\ 



H1 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1894, by 

STEPHEN ABBOTT NORTHROP, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

Entered at Stationers' Hall. 



Electrotyped, Printed and Bound by 
C. J. KREHBIEL & CO. 
No. 248-250 Walnut Street 

Cincinnati. LC Control Number 




tmp96 027343 



/I* 7 



TO 
DEAR ONES /£ C 

TRIED AND TRUE: 

A CHRISTIAN FATHER, 
A LOVING COMPANION, 
A DEVOTED DAUGHTER, 

1 DEDICATE THIS BOOK. 

To Father first, because he, with my sainted Mother, laid 
the right foundation in my youthful heart through prayers, 
tears, and sacrifices. 



m ^ 



*# 








r 



To Wife next, because her wise counsel, cheering word, 
and helpful presence have been my daily inspiration during 
the anxious years of a laborious professional career. 

To Daughter last, because her gleeful voice, affectionate 
nature, and winsome way have been my sweet delight at 
closing day and returning morn. 




^^i^-MJ^d^. 




TABERNACLE OF THE PEOPLE, 
BY THE PEOPLE, AND FOR THE PEOPLE, 

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, FORT WAYNE, IND. 

BUILT 1867; ENLARGED FOR THE MASSES 1889, 

STEPHEN A. NORTHROP, PASTOR SINCE 1882. 




INTRODUCTORY. 



N IMPRESSION prevails among a cer- 
tain class, either through willful preju- 
/ (C/ 3 dice or superficial knowledge, that our 
great thinkers and representative men are not in 
open sympathy with the religion of the Bible ; that 
Christianity is only for the weak, the young, and 
the ignorant; and that its champions outside the 
pulpit, the Christian press, and theological circles 
are few and far between. These pages are a bold 
and exhaustive refutation to such opinions. Mas- 
ter minds in the first rank of statesmanship and 
scholarship appear in evidence that the very re- 
verse is true : that the wisest, the bravest, and 
the profoundest are the stanch friends of the Cross 
and the Word. Indeed, since the birth of Christ 
the Wise Men of the world, best qualified to de- 
tect error and imposture, have laid at His feet 
the richest gifts of their genius. 




mm 



fflliuiiiiifl pK 




'i*J 



**>. 



An interesting and unique feature of this work 
is, that every one of its recorded Declarations, di- 
rectly or indirectly in favor of CHRIST and the 
BIBIyE, comes from secular sources, and none 
whatever from clergymen. By virtue of their 
office clergymen are expected to advocate the 
claims of the Founder of Christianity and its in- 
spired Book ; hence a collection of Testimonies 
from such authorities might be charged with pro- 
fessional bias ; but when men of the highest in- 
tellectual attainments; men whose names are en- 
graved on the front of the centuries as leaders of 
human thought — pioneers of political, material, and 
moral progress — who have opened new paths for 
the feet of knowledge, and who have no personal 
interest at stake ; when such men wield pen and 
lift voice in emulous praise to the Lamb of Cal- 
vary, incomparable in the life He led ; unapproach- 
able in the faith He inspired, and matchless in the 
ethics He preached — to the Testimony of such Wit- 
nesses assuredly all reasonable persons will respect- 
fully listen, and, let us hope, confess with those 
"who watched Him there," "Truly, this was the 
Son of God ! " 

My task in preparing this book for publication 
will be more than compensated if perused with 
fairness by the unbeliever, 



fciMif 



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JM 



«S&1 



the Christian, serving to dissipate the doubts of 
the one, and to confirm the faith of the other; 
bringing both alike into more intimate relation 
with the Mighty -to-Save, who gloriously leads the 
van of our civilization. — 

" Toiling up new Calvaries with the Cross that 
turns not back." 

These Testimonies have been obtained during 
years of painstaking research in cit}^ national, 
and university libraries, and by an extensive cor- 
respondence with distinguished men of two conti- 
nents up to the present hour. The references that 
follow, or precede, are of indisputable authority, so 
that those who wish to quote or investigate may 
feel perfectly assured of their accurac\\ Testimo- 
nies with fac simile signatures are trustworthy in 
every case. The original letters are in possession 
of the undersigned — deposited under lock and key 
for safe -keeping, or any possible appeal. Some 
of these autograph Confessions of Faith are very 
brief, but the value of any testimony is never to 
be measured by the space it covers. Great truths 
are often expressed in fewest words. The senti- 
ments of Poets, as might be expected, are given 
mostly in verse. No attempt has been made to 
indicate the volumes from which the selections 
have been taken, for the reason that there are so 




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Uttoulij 



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many different editions that no satisfactory system 
of reference could be fixed upon. Most of the 
quotations, however, may be readily found in any 
of the authorized works of these writers. 

My hearty thanks are due the many Publishers 
and Authors for the use of valuable extracts from 
their books, and also to those who have courte- 
ously furnished, at my solicitation, their autograph 
Testimonies. Friends and strangers, here and there, 
have kindly offered many timely hints and good 
cheer. 

May this volume inspire more devout reverence 
for, and deeper study of, the Bible, " the God of 
books," the safest one to trust in this life, and 
the only one to pillow our heads upon in death. 
" Search the Scriptures," for they are their own 
best proof. So too with Revelation's Saviour ! He 
Himself is His own strongest evidence : " I am 
One that bear witness of Myself!" "Behold my 
hands and feet, handle Me and see ! " Christ is 
God, and Christ is Man ! He is Emanuel — GOD 
WITH US. He is the one unique, colossal Figure 
of all time. His enthronement will be universal. 
The magnetism of the uplifted Cross and the re- 
vealed Word will draw all nations into one bond of 
Christian Unity, Human Liberty, and Fraternity ! 

Finally, the verdict of the impartial reader must 






Ikukli 



E2EP 




GENERAL INDEX. 

CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO PROFESSIONS. 

ARTISTS : Musicians, Painters, Sculptors. page 

Allston, Washington, Painter, 1 1 

Angelo, Michael, Italian Painter and Sculptor, 15 

Bach, Johann Sebastian, German Musical Composer, . . 21 

Bacon, John, English Sculptor, 23 

Beethoven, Ludwig Van, Prussian Musical Composer, . . 29 
Doane, William Howard, Composer of Hymn Music, . . .132 
Dore, Paul, Gustave, French Painter and Sculptor, . . . .132 

Durer, Albert, German Painter and Engraver, 137 

Gounod, Charles Francois, French Musical Composer, . 179 
Handel, George Friedrich, German Musical Composer, .212 
Hastings, Thomas, Musical Composer and Hymn-Writer .218 
Haydn, Franz Joseph, German Musical Composer, . . . 220 

Liszt, Franz, Hungarian Pianist and Composer, 286 

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, German Musical Composer, 332 
Murillo, Bartolme Esterban, Spanish Painter, .... 335 
Overbeck, Johann Friedrich, German Painter ; Reviver 
and Leader of " Christian Art " in the Nineteenth Cen- 
tury, 346 

Rubens, Peter Paul, Flemish Painter, 387 

Sankey, Ira David, Vocalist and Composer of Sacred 

Music, 393 

Story, William Wetmore, Sculptor 434 

Wagner, Wilhelm Richard, German Musical Composer, 479 

AUTHORS : Essayists, Novelists; Art, Prose, and Story = Writers. 

Adams, William Taylor, " Oliver Optic," Story- Writer, . . 4 

Amiel, Henri Frederic, Swiss Prose Writer, ...... 12 

Andersen, Hans Christian, Danish Novelist and Story- 
Writer, 13 

Arnold, Matthew, English Essaj'ist and Poet, 18 

Arthur, Timothy Shay, Story- Writer, 19 

Botta, Vincenzo, Author of Text-Books, 4° 

Bourget, Paul, French Novelist, 4° 

Bulwer-Lytton, Edward George Earle Lytton, Brit- 
ish Novelist, 59 

xiii 



XIV GENERAL INDEX. 

PAGE 

Burritt, Elihu, Popular Writer and Linguist 62 

Butterworth, Hezekiah, Story-Writer 66 

Cable, George Washington, Critical Writer and Lecturer, 70 
Carlyle, Thomas, British Essayist and Historian, .... 73 

Chambers, Robert, Scottish Writer and Publisher 78 

Chateaubriand, Francois Auguste, French Writer and 

Statesman 81 

Cruden, Alexander, English Compiler of "A Complete 

Concordance to the Holy Scriptures," 106 

Cumberland, Richard, English Dramatist ; Miscellane- 
ous Writer, 107 

Defoe Daniel, English Novelist; Author of "Robinson 

Crusoe," 116 

De Quincev, Thomas, English Writer ; Author of "The Con- 
fessions of an English Opium-Eater," 123 

Dickens, Charles, English Novelist, 125 

Ebers, George Moritz, German Story-Writer and Egypt- 
ologist, . . . . , 140 

Fielding, Henry, English Novelist 149 

Hardenberg, Friedrich Von, German Author and Phi- 
losopher 214 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, Novelist and Poet 221 

Hazlitt, William, English Prose Writer, 222 

Helps, Sir Arthur, English Essayist and Historian, . . . 226 
Holland, Josiah Gilbert, Novelist, Poet, and Editor, . . 2^2 

Howitt, William, English Essa3'ist and Poet 239 

Hughes.Thomas, English Author : " Tom Brown's School 

Days," "Tom Brown at Oxford," etc 240 

Hugo, Victor Marie, French Romance Writer, Poet, States- 
man, 243 

Irving, Washington, Novelist, Biographer, and Diplomat, 246 
Jenyns, Soame, English Writer ; Member of Parliament, 

1741-17S0 253 

Johnson, Samuel, English Lexicographer and Writer, . .256 

Lacroix, Paul, French Art Writer, 271 

Lamb, Charles, English Essaj-ist and Poet, 271 

Landor, Walter Savage, English Classic Writer, Essaj-- 

ist, and Poet 274 

Lanman, Charles, Biographical Writer, 273 

Lathrop, George Parsons, Author, Journalist, Poet, . .274 
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, German Story-Writer, . 281 
Lieber, Francis, Publicist; Professor of Political Econ- 

omv, Columbia College Law School 283 



GENERAL INDEX. XV 

PAGE 

Mathews, William, Prose Writer, 309 

Montaigne, Michel De, French Essayist and Philoso- 
pher, . . . . . 322 

Neal, John, Novelist, 340 

Oliphant, Laurence, English Writer and Traveler, . . . 345 

Palgrave, Francis Turner, English Art Critic, 349 

Reade, Charles, English Novelist and Prose Writer, . . 377 

Richter, Jean Paul Fred, German W T riter, 379 

Rochester, John Wilmot, English Writer and Courtier, . 381 

Scott, Sir Walter, Scottish Novelist and Poet, 399 

Smiles, Samuel, Scottish Essayist, 413 

vStael, Baron Auguste De, French Statesman; Son of 

Madame De Stael, 421 

Steel, Sir Richard, English Essayist, 427 

Thackery, William Makepeace, English Novelist, . . . 454 

Tolstoi, Count Leo N., Russian Novelist, 465 

Trollope, Anthony, English Novelist, 466 

Wallace, Lew, Author : " Ben-Hur," " The Prince of India," 

etc.; Diplomat, Major-General in Civil War, 480 

Walton, Izaak, English Writer ; Author of " The Complete 

Angler," 482 

Warner, Charles Dudley, Prose Writer, 489 

Webster, Noah, Lexicographer : " Webster's Unabridged 

Dictionary," 494 

West, Gilbert, English Writer, 497 

Whipple, Edwin Percy, Essayist and Critic, 499 

Wilson, James Grant, Prose Writer ; General in Civil War, 409 
Wilson, John ("Christopher North"), Scottish Writer; 

Educator, 510 

Chief and Associate Justices of United States Supreme Court; Lord 
High Chancellors and Lord Chief Justices of England. 

Brewer, David Josiah, Associate Justice, United States 

Supreme Court, 46 

Bruce, Sir Gainsford, Justice in the High Court of Eng- 
land, • • 52 

Chase, Salmon Portland, Chief Justice, United States 

Supreme Court, 79 

Coke, Sir Edward, Lord Chief Justice of England, ... 91 

Denman, Thomas, Lord Chief Justice of England, . . . .122 

Ellsworth, Oliver, Chief Justice, United States Supreme 

Court, 114 

Erskine, Thomas, Lord High Chancellor of England, . . 142 



XVI GENERAL INDEX. 



PAGE 



Fi^tcher, Richard, Judge of Massachusetts Supreme 

Court, !^ 2 

HaeE, Sir Matthew, Lord Chief Justice of England, . . 205 

Haesbury, Lord, The Right Honorable, Lord High Chan- 
cellor of England, 206 

Hatton, Sir Christopher, Lord High Chancellor of Eng- 
land, 2I9 

Jay, John, First Chief Justice, United States Supreme Court, 251 

Logan, James, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Pennsyl- 
vania, 2 88 

Lumpkin, Joseph Henry, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of 
Georgia, 298 

McCaemont, Hugh, " Lord Cairns," Twice Lord High 

Chancellor of England, 311 

McLean, John, Associate Justice, United States Supreme 

Court, 3I4 

Marshaee, John, Chief Justice, United States Supreme 

Court, 308 

Murray, Wieeiam, " Earl of Mansfield," Lord Chief Justice 

of England, 337 

Phieips, John Finis, Judge in United States District 

Court, 359 

Rush, Jacob, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Pennsyl- 
vania, 388 

Story, Joseph, Chief Justice, United States Supreme Court, 434 

Strong, Wieeiam, Associate Justice, United States Su- 
preme Court, 433 

Waite, Morrison Remick, Chief Justice, United States Su- 
preme Court, . 478 

Walworth, Reuben Hyde, Last of the Chancellors of New 

York, . 483 

Wood, W. Page, " Lord Hatherley," Lord High Chancellor 

of England, 518 

EDUCATORS: Presidents and Professors of Colleges. 

Adams, Charees Kendaee, President of the University of 

Wisconsin, 2 

Angeee, James Buriee, President of the University of 

Michigan, 14 

Baker, James H., President of the University of Colorado, 23 
Bateman, Newton, Late President of Knox College, . . 26 
Beackie, John Stuart, Professor of Greek, University of 

Edinburgh ; Scotch Poet and Author, 33 



GENERAL INDEX. xvii 

PAGE 

Boise, James Robinson, Professor of Greek in the Univer- 
sity of Michigan, 1852-1868, and later of University of 
Chicago, 35 

Bowen, Francis, Professor of Moral Philosophy, Harvard 

College, 41 

BoyesEn, Hjaemar Hjorth, Professor of German, Columbia 

College, 43 

Bradshear, Wieeiam M., President Iowa State College, . 45 

Caederwood, Henry, Professor of Moral Philosophy, Uni- 
versity of Edinburg, 69 

Carter, Frankein, President of Williams College, .... 75 

Cochran, David Henry, President of Polytechnic Insti- 
tute, 90 

Cooke, Josias Parsons, Professor of Chemistry and Min- 
eralogy, Harvard College, 96 

Coueter, John Meree, President of Lake Forest Uni- 
versity, 99 

Dabney, ChareES Wieeiam, President of University of 

Tennessee, ... 11 1 

Davis, Noah Knowees, Professor of Moral Philosophy, Uni- 
versity of Virginia, 115 

Eey, Richard Theodore, Professor of Political Economy, 

University of Wisconsin, 142 

Fueton, Robert B., President of the University of Missis- 
sippi, 163 

Gates, Merriee Edwards, President of Amherst College, . 167 

Gilman, Daniee Coet, President of Johns Hopkins Univer- 
sity, 169 

Harper, Wieeiam Rainey, President of the University of 

Chicago, 214 

Hile, David Jayne, President of the University of Roches- 
ter, 229 

Jesse, Richard Henry, President of the University of 

Missouri, 254 

Johnston, Wieeiam Preston, President Tulane Univer- 
sity of Louisiana, 257 

Jones, Richard C, President of the University of Ala- 
bama, 257 

Jones, Stephen A., President of Nevada State University, 260 

Jordan, David Starr, President of the Leland Stanford, 

Jr., University, • 260 

Kirkwood, Daniee, Professor of Mathematics and Astron- 
omy, Indiana University, 269 



XV111 GENERAL INDEX. 

PAGE 
Lewis, Taylor, Professor of Greek in Union College, 1849- 

1877, 283 

Loos, Charles Louis, President of Kentucky University, . 293 

Low, Seth, President of Columbia College, 294 

McDowell, William F., Chancellor, University of Denver, 312 
Mann, Horace, late President of Antioch College ; Author, . 308 
Mauck, Joseph W., President of the University of South 

Dakota, 309 

Mosher, George F., President of Hillsdale College, . . .331 
Muir, Sir William, Principal of the University of Edin- 

mm bur &> 334 

Muller, Friederich Max, Professor of German-Sanscrit 

in University of Oxford, 333 

Murray, Ljndley, Grammarian, 337 

Northrop, Cyrus, President of the University of Minnesota, 342 
Olney, Edward, Professor of Mathematics in University 
of Michigan, 1863-1887; Author of Series Mathematical 

Text-Books, 344 

Page, David Perkins, First Principal of Normal School, 

New York, 347 

Payne, William Harold, Chancellor of the University of 

Nashville, 353 

Purington, Daniel Boardman, President of Denison 

University, 368 

Quackenbos, John Duncan, Professor of English Lan- 
guage and Literature, Columbia College, 370 

Quincy, Josiah, former President of Harvard College, . . 370 
Rogers, Henry Wade, President of North- Western Univer- 
sity ; late Dean of Law School, University of Michigan, 384 
Schmitz, LEONhard, German Philologist; Principal of 
the London College of the International Educational 

Society, 397 

Schurman, Jacob Gould, President of Cornell University, 400 
Shairp, John Campbell, Principal of United College, St. 

Andrews ; Professor of Poetry at Oxford ; Author, . . . 403 
Shaler, Nathaniel Southgate, Professor of Geology in 

Harvard College, 406 

Snow, Francis H., President of the University of Kansas, 415 
STEELE, Joel Dorman, Author of Scientific Text-Books, . 427 
Super, Charles W., President of Ohio University, . . . .436 

Swain, Joseph, President of Indiana University, 438 

Taylor, James M., Professor of Mathematics in Colgate 

University, 446 



GENERAL INDEX. XIX 

PAGE 

Thomson, Sir William, " Lord Kelvin," Professor of Natu- 
ral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow, 460 

Thornton, William M., President of the University of 

Virginia, 459 

Tucker, John Randolph, Dean of Law School, Washing- 
ton and Lee University, 467 

Webb, Alexander Stuart, President of College of the 

City of New York ; Major-General in Civil War, . . . 490 

Webster, Harrison Edwin, President of Union College, 494 

Welling, James Clarke, President of Columbia College, 496 

Wheeler, Benjamin Ide, Professor of Greek, Cornell 

University, 498 

Williams, SirM. Monier, Professor of Sanscrit, University 

of Oxford, 506 

Wilson, John Moulder, Superintendent of the United 
States Military Academy, West Point; Colonel of 
Engineers, 510 

Wilson, Sir Daniel, President of the University of Toronto, 512 

Winston, George T., President University of North Caro- 
lina, . 515 

Woodrow, James, President of South Carolina College, . . 519 

Young, Charles Augustus, Professor of Astronomy in 

Princeton College, 524 

EXPLORERS AND FOUNDERS. 

Bienville, Jean Baptiste Lemoyne, Founder of New 

Orleans ; Colonial Governor of Louisiana, 32 

Calvert, Sir Leonard, "Lord Baltimore," Founder of 

Maryland, 69 

Cartier, Jacques, French Navigator and Explorer, ... 76 
Columbus, Christopher, Genoese Discoverer of America, 95 
Hayes, Isaac Israel, Arctic Explorer, Surgeon and Natur- 
alist, 223 

Jephson, A. J. Mountenay, African Explorer with Stanley, 254 
Livingstone, David, Scottish Explorer in Africa, .... 287 

Park, Mungo, Scottish Explorer in Africa, 350 

Parry, Sir William Edward, English Rear-Admiral and 

Arctic Explorer, 352 

Penn, William, Founder of Pennsylvania, 355 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, English Navigator and Courtier, . 371 
Stanley, Henry Morton, English Explorer into " Darkest 

Africa." 422 



XX GENERAL INDEX. 

FINANCIERS. page? 

Atwood, Frederick M., Merchant 20 

Barnes Alfred Smith, Publisher and Philanthropist, . . 27 
Colgate, Samuel, Manufacturer and Philanthropist, ... 93 
Crozer, John Price, Manufacturer and Philanthropist, . . 103, 
Dodge, William Earl, Merchant and Philanthropist, . .133 
Dodge, William Earl, Jr., Merchant; President of the 

Evangelical Alliance, 131 

Fareweee, John Villiers, Capitalist, 148. 

Lawrence, Abbott, Merchant and Diplomat, 275 

Lawrence, Amos, Merchant and Philanthropist, 275 

Levering, Joshua, Manufacturer and Philanthropist, . . 282 
Lubbock, Sir John, President of London Chamber of 

Commerce ; Banker ; Member of Parliament, 297 

Midler, Lewis, Manufacturer, 319 

Moore, George, English Manufacturer and Philanthropist, 323 

PylE, James, Manufacturer, 368- 

Vanderbilt, Cornelius, Capitalist and Philanthropist, . 473. 
Wanamaker, John, Merchant ; Postmaster-General under 

President Harrison 482 

GOVERNORS OF STATES.* 

Adams, Alva, Governor of Colorado, 180- 

Beaver, James A., Governor of Pennsylvania, 190 

Biggs, Benjamin T., Governor of Delaware, 181 

Burleigh, Edwin C, Governor of Maine, 184. 

Davis, John W., Governor of Rhode Island, 113 

Dillingham, W. P., Governor of Vermont, 130 

Ferry, Elisha P., Governor of Washington, 192 

Flower, RoswELL P., Governor of New York, 188- 

Foraker, Joseph Benson, Governor of Ohio, 189 

Francis, David R., Governor of Missouri, 186 

Fuller, Levi K., Governor of Vermont, 192 

Gray, Isaac Pusey, Governor of Indiana, 183 

Green, Robert Stockton, Governor of New Jersey, . . .188 

Hogg, J. S., Governor of Texas, 191 

Hughes, Simon P., Governor of Arkansas, 179 

Humphrey, Lyman U., Governor of Kansas, 183 

Jackson, Elihu E., Governor of Maryland, 184 

Jackson, Frank D., Governor of Iowa, 182 

Lounsbury, P. C, Governor of Connecticut, . 180 

Lowry, Robert, Governor of Mississippi, ... . . ... 185 

* Their Autograph Testimonies were secured while Governors of States from 1889 to 
1893 inclusive 



GENERAL INDEX. XXI 

PAGE 

Luce, Cyrus C, Governor of Michigan, 185 

McConnell, W. J., Governor of Idaho, 182 

McGill, A. R., Governor of Minnesota, 185 

Markham, H. H., Governor of California, 180 

Mellette, A. C, Governor of South Dakota, 191 

Northen, W. J., Governor of Georgia, i8r 

Pennoyer, Sylvester, Governor of Oregon, 189 

PERRY, Edward A., Governor of Florida, 181 

Richardson, John P., Governor of South Carolina, . . . .190 
Rusk, Jeremiah McLain, Governor of Wisconsin, . . . .193 
Scales, Alfred M., Governor of North Carolina, . . . . 189 

Stevenson, C. C, Governor of Nevada, 187 

Taft, Royal C, Governor of Rhode Island, . 190 

Taylor, Robert L-, Governor of Tennessee, 191 

Thayer, John M., Governor of Nebraska, 186 

Toole, Joseph K., Governor of Montana, 186 

TuttlE, Hiram A., Governor of New Hampshire, 187 

Wilson, C. W., Governor of West Virginia 193, 

HISTORIANS. 

Alison, Sir Archibald, Scottish Historian and Essayist, . 1 r 

Bancroft, George, 24 

Froude, James Anthony, English Historian, 161 

Guizot, Francois Pierre Guillaume, French Historian 

and Statesman 201 

Lecky, William Edward Hartpole, English Historian 

and Statesman, 277 

Lubke, Wilhelm, German Historian of Art, 297 

Macaulay, Thomas Babington, English Historian, Essay- 
ist and Poet, 3or 

Macintosh, Sir James, British Historian and Statesman, . 304 
Motley, John Lothrop, Historian and Diplomat, .... 320 

Muller, Johannes Von, Swiss Historian, 336 

Prescott, William Hickling, 367 

Ranke, Leopold, German Historian, 375 

Rollin, Charles, French Historian, 3 8 5 

Stephen, Sir James, British Historian ; Author ; Professor 

of Modern History, University of Cambridge, 4 2 & 

Timayenis, T. T., Greek Historian, 463 

Turner, Sharon, English Historian, 47 Q 

Tytler, Alexander Fraser, Scottish Historian and 

Jurist, 47» 



XX11 GENERAL INDEX. 

HUMORISTS. page 

Bailey, James Montgomery, " Danbury News Man," . . 21 
Burdette, Robert Jones, " Burlington Hawkeye Man," . 61 

Clemens, Samuel Langhorne, "Mark Twain," 88 

Eandon, MelvillED., " Eli Perkins," 272- 

INVENTORS. 

Ampier, Andre Marie, French Electrician and Scientific 

Writer, 13 

Field, Cyrus West, Projector of the Atlantic Cable, . . . 149 
Gutenberg, Johann, German Inventor of Printing, . . . 202 
Morse, Samuee Fineey Breese, Inventor of the Telegraph, 327 
Napier, John, Scottish Inventor of Logarithms, . . . . . 339 

JOURNALISTS. 

Bayne, Peter, Scottish Journalist and Author, ...... 29 

Bross, Wieeiam, late Editor of the Chicago Tribune, ... 49 
Brown, Charles Brockden, Journalist and Author, ... 51 
Coefin, Charles Carelton, War Correspondent ; Popular 

Lecturer and Author, 89 

Curtis, George William, late Editor of The Harper's 

Weekly, 100 

Dana, Charles Anderson, Editor of The Sun, New York, 112 
Gilder, Richard Watson, Editor of The Century, . . . .170 
Greeley, Horace, late Editor of The Tribune, New York, 197 
Knight, Charles, English Editor, Publisher, and Author, . 270 
Michaud, Joseph Francois, French Journalist and Pub- 
licist, 316 

Nordhoff, Charles, Journalist and Author, 339 

REid, WhiTELAW, Editor of The Tribune, New York, . . . 378 
Richardson, Charles Francis, Journalist, Author, and 

Educator, 378 

Shepard, Elliott Fitch, Late Editor of The Mail and 

Express, 408 

Stead, William T., English Journalist ; Editor of The Re- 
view of Reviews, 4 2 5 

Watterson, Henry, Editor of The Courier- Journal, Louis- 
ville, 49° 

Weed, Thurlow, Journalist, 495 

KINGS : Nobility, Royal Officials. 

Adolphus, Gustavus, King of Sweden, 8 

Aitcheson, Sir Charles, Lieutenant-Governor of the 

Punjab, 8 



GENERAL INDEX. XX111 

PAGE 

Albert, His Royal Highness Arthur William Patrick, 

" Duke of Connaught," 9 

Bernstorff, A., Count of Germany, 34 

Bonaparte, Napoleon I., Emperor of the French, .... 38 

Bruce, Robert, King of Scots, 54 

Chambord, Henri - Charles - Ferdinand - Marie - Dieu- 
donne, Head of the Elder Branch of the Bourbon 

Dynasty, 78 

Charles I., King of England, 79 

Charles V., King of Germany ; King of Spain as Charles I., 81 
Cromwell, Oliver, Lord Protector of the English Com- 
monwealth, 104 

Diet of Spires : John of Saxony ; Ernest of Luneburg, 

Philip of Hess, 126 

Edward VI., King of England, 141 

Frederick III., King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany, 160 
Frontenac, Louis de Buade, Governor of New France, . . 163 

George III., King of Great Britian, 169 

Gordon, The Right Honorable John Campbell, Sixth 

Earl of Aberdeen ; Governor-General of Canada, . . .177 

Haddo, Lord, Fifth Earl of Aberdeen, 203 

Harrowby, The Right Honorable, The Earl of, Philan- 
thropist, 217 

Holy Alliance : Alexander I., Emperor of Russia ; 
Francis I., Emperor of Austria ; Frederick III., King 

of Prussia, 233 

Hyde, Edward, First Earl of Clarendon, English Historian, 244 
Kelley, Thomas, Lord Mayor of London at the Accession 

of Queen Victoria, 267 

Kinnaird, The Right Honorable, Scottish Financier 

and Philanthropist, . 269 

Lawrence, Lord John Laird Mair, Viceroy of India, . .276 

Louis IX., King of France, 193 

Medici, De Lorenzo, Prince of Florence ; Poet ; Patron 

of Art Literature, 3 : 4 

Northbrook, The Right Honorable, The Earl of, Vice- 
roy ; Governor-General of India 34° 

Queen Victoria Crowned, 476 

Savory, James, late Lord Mayor of London, 393 

Shore, John, "Lord Teignmouth," Governor-General of 

India, 409 

Stanley, James, Seventh Earl of Derby ; English R03'- 

alist, . . 424 



XXIV GENERAL INDEX. 

PAGE 
Tilley, Sir Samuel Leonard, Lieutenant-Governor of 

New Brunswick, 463 

Wentworth, Sir Thomas, Earl of Strafford, 496 

William I., King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany, . . 504 
William II., present King of Prussia and Emperor of Ger- 
many, 506 

William the Silent, Prince of Orange ; Founder of the 

Dutch Republic, 505 

Wilson, Sir Charles, Director-General of the Ordinance 

Survey of England, 511 

LAWYERS. 

Baldwin, Daniel Pratt, Late Attorney-General of In- 
diana 26 

Bayley, Sir John, English Judge and Author 28 

Beach, William Augustus, 27 

Blackstone, Sir William English Jurist; Author of 

" Commentaries," 33 

Bluntschli, Johann Kasper, German Jurist, 36 

Choate, Rufus, 83 

Christiancy, Isaac Peckham, Judge, Diplomat, and Uni- 
ted States Senator, 83 

Cooley, Thomas McIntyre, Lecturer on Constitutional 

Law, University of Michigan, 98 

Curtis, George M., 106 

Curtis, George Ticknor, Lawyer and Author, 108 

Dalrymple, Sir David, (Lord Hailes) Scottish Judge and 

Historian, 112 

Evarts, William Maxwell, Lawyer and Statesman, . . 145 

Fisk, Clinton Bowen, Lawyer and General, 151 

Frelinghuysen, Theodore, Lawyer ; United States Sen- 
ator ; Chancellor University of New York, 1 839-1 850 ; 

President Rutgers College, 1 850-1 861, 158 

Greenleap, Simon, Jurist ; Professor of Law in Harvard 

College 198 

Grimke, Thomas Smith, Lawyer and Philanthropist, . .199 

Grotius, Hugo, Dutch Jurist and Author, 200 

Hilliard, Henry Washington, Lawyer, Congressman, 

and Diplomat, 230 

Hoar, Ebenezer Rockwood, Lawyer and Statesman, . . 231 
Hornblower, Joseph Coerten, Jurist ; Professor of Law, 

Princeton College, 236 

Hubbard, Samuel, 240 



GENERAL INDEX. XXV 

PAGE 

Kent. James. Lawyer : Author of ■• Commentaries," . . . 265 
Key. Fraxcis Scott. Lawyer; Poet: Author of "Trie Star- 

Spaugled Banner.*' 267 

Livingston. William, Lawyer ; First Governor of New 

Jersey. 1 776-1 790 2S7 

Park. Sir James A.. English. Lawyer and Judge 351 

Prentiss. Sargeant Smith. Lawyer. Orator, and Congress- 
man 365 

Rusling. James F.. Lawyer, and General in Civil War. . 390 

Salstonstoll. Leyerett 392 

Shepley, Ether. Lawyer : L'nited States Senator 40S 

Smith. John Cotton. Lawyer. Congressman, and Governor 

of Massachusetts 414 

!Storrs. Emery Alexander 433 
Swain. David Lowry. Lawyer. Governor, and Educator. . 457 
Thurston. John Mellex. General Attorney of the L'nion 

Pacific 461 

Vroom, Peter Dumont. Lawyer and Diplomat 477 

Washburn. Emory. Lawyer and Statesman 4S9 

Webster. Daniel. Constitutional Lawyer. Orator, and 

Statesman 491 

Wirt. William. Lawyer and Author 517 

Woodford. Stewart Lyndon. Lawyer and Statesman . .519 

niSCELLANEOUS. 

Barxum. Phineas Taylor. Exhibitor and Philanthropist. 25 

Booth. Junius Brutus. Tragedian 39 

Clarke. Edward Daniel. English Traveler and Mineral- 
ogist S4 

Hanway. Jonas. English Traveler and Philanthropist. . .213 

Junius, Franciscus, English Philologist 262 

Murray. Alexander. Scottish Philologist 336 

Petty. Sir William, English Political Economist 357 

Rogers. Edward H.. Operative Ship-joiner, Author. Legis- 
lator 3S2 

Stephens. John Lloyd. Traveler and Author 429 

The L'nited States a Christian Nation 453 

ORIENTALISTS AND ARCHAEOLOGISTS. 

De Sacy. Antoine Isaac Sylyestre. French Oriental- 
ist 124 

Didron. Adolphe Napoleon. French Archaeologist, . . 129 



XXVI GENERAL INDEX. 

PAGE 
Hamilton, Sir William, Scottish Antiquary, and Arch- 
aeologist, 209 

Jones, Sir William, English Orientalist and Linguist, . . 259 
Layard, Sir Austin Henry, English Orientalist, Archae- 
ologist, 276 

Lenormant, Francois, French Archaeologist, 281 

Palmer, Edward Henry, English Egyptologist, 348 

RuckerT, Friederich, German Orientalist and Poet, . . 386 
Selden, John, English Oriental Scholar and Statesman, . 401 
Winckelmann, Johann Joachim, German Archaeologist, 515 

PHILANTHROPISTS AND REFORMERS. 

Brown, John, Abolitionist 55 

Buxton, Sir Thomas Fowell, English Philanthropist, 66 
Clarkson, Thomas, English Champion for Abolition of 

Slave Trade, 85 

Comstock, Anthony, Secretary of the Society for Sup- 
pression of Vice, 96 

Cavour, Count Camillo Benso, "Regenerator of Italy," . yj 
Cooper, Anthony Ashley," Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury," 

English Philanthropist, 99 

Dow, Neal, Temperance Reformer, 136 

Evarts, Jeremiah, Philanthropist, 144 

Froebel, Friederich Wilhelm August, German Educa- 
tional Reformer, " Kindergarten System," 161 

Garibaldi, Giuseppe, Italian Civil Reformer and Patriot, 165 
Garrison, William Lloyd, Abolitionist and Journalist, . 166 
Gough, John Bartholomew, Temperance Reformer ; Popu- 
lar Orator, 178 

Howard, John, English Prison Reformer and Philanthro- 
pist, 238 

KEELEY, Leslie E., Discoverer of "Gold Cure for Ine- 
briety"; Physician, 264 

Mazzini, Giuseppe, Italian Civil Reformer, 305 

Morley, Samuel, English Merchant and Philanthropist, . 326 
OldcastlE, Sir John, " Lord Cobham," English Civil Re- 
former 343 

Pestalozzi, Johann Heinrich, Swiss Educational Re- 
former, 356 

Phillips, Wendell, Reformer and Popular Orator, . . . 360 
Sharp, Granville, English Reformer and Philanthropist, 407 

Tappan, Arthur, Merchant and Reformer, 444 

Wilberforce, William, English Statesman and Reformer, 502 



GENERAL INDEX. XXvil 

PHILOSOPHERS AND METAPHYSICIANS. page 

Bacon, Francis, Philosopher ; Lord High Chancellor of 

England, 22 

Bohme, Jakob, German Mystic Philosopher, . .* 37 

Cousin, Victor, French Philosopher and Metaphysician, . 97 
Franklin, Benjamin, Philosopher and Statesman, . . . .159 
Hamilton, Sir William, Scottish Philosopher and Meta- 
physician, 209 

Hegard, H., Professor of Philosophy, University of Copen- 
hagen, 225 

Home, Henry, " Lord Karnes," Scottish Philosopher and 

Jurist, 235 

Jacobi, Friederich Heinrich, German Philosopher ; Pres- 
ident of the Academy of Munich, 1804, 248 

Joueeroy, Theodore Simon, French Philosopher, .... 262 
Kant, Immanuee, German Metaphysician and Philosopher, 263 
Leibnitz, Gottfried Wilhelm, German Philosopher and 

Mathematician, 280 

Locke, John, English Philosopher, 289 

Montesquieu, Charles De Secondat, French Philosopher 

and Jurist, 322 

Newton, Sir Isaac, English Philosopher and Mathemati- 
cian, 338 

Pascal, Blaise, French Philosopher and Mathematician, . 352 

Quinet, Edgar, French Philosopher and Author, 371 

Rousseau, Jean Jacques, French Philosopher and Writer, 385 
Schelling, Friederich Wilhelm, German Philosopher, . 395 
Schlegel, Karl Wilhelm Friederich, German Philoso- 
pher and Critic, 396 

Spinoza, Benedict, Dutch Philosopher, 418 

PHYSICIANS, SURGEONS, PHYSIOLOGISTS. 

Abercrombie,. John, Scottish Physician, 1 

Agnew, David Hayes, Physician and Surgeon, 10 

Bell, Sir Charles, British Anatomist and Physiologist, . 31 
Boerhaave, Hermann, Dutch Physician and Philosopher, 37 
Brooks, John, Physician ; Governor of Massachusetts, 

1816-1823, 5° 

Browne, Sir Thomas, English Physician and Author, . . 50 
Clark, Sir Andrew, Late President of the Royal College 

of Physicians, 85 

Crutcheield, Eugene, io 5 

Figuer, Guillaume Louis, French Physician and Author, 150 
Forbes, James David, Scottish Physician and Educator, . 153 



XXV111 GENERAL INDEX. 

PAGE 

Grant, Sir James Alexander, Canadian Physician and 

Geologist, 194 

Gray, John Purdue, Late Manager of New York Insane 

Asylum, 198 

Hahnemann, Samuel Christian Friedrich, German 

Physician, 204 

Haller, Albert Von, Swiss Anatomist and Physiologist, 206 

Hartley, David, Physician, Philosopher ; Founder of the 

English Association School of Psychologists, 216 

Hartshorne, Henry, Physician and Surgeon, 218 

Hinton, James, English Aural Surgeon, 230 

Macalister, Alexander, Professor of Anatomy, Univer- 
sity of Cambridge, 302 

Mott, Valentine, 331 

Parker, William Kitchen, Hunterian Professor, Royal 

College of Surgeons, 351 

Roget, Peter Mark, English Physician, Physiologist; Au- 
thor " Thesauris of English Words " 384 

Rush, Benjamin, Physician ; Signer of the Declaration of 

Independence, 388 

Simpson, Sir James Young, Scottish Physician ; Discov- 
erer of Chloroform, 413 

Struensee, Count Johann Friederich, Physician ; 

Prime Minister of Denmark, 435 

Wilson, George, Scottish Physician, Chemist ; Professor 

of Technology, University of Edinburgh, 507 

POETS. 

Addison, Joseph, English Poet and Essayist, 6 

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey 10 

Arndt, Ernst Moritz, German Poet, Patriot ; Professor of 

History at Bonn, 17 

Arnold, Sir Edwin, English Poet, 19 

Barton, Bernard, English Poet, 28 

Beattie, James, Scottish Poet and Author, 30 

Bowring, Sir John, English Poet, Statesman, and Linguist, 42 

Browning, Robert, English Poet, 53 

Bryant, William CullEn, Poet and Journalist, 57 

Bulwer-Lytton, Edward Robert, Baron Eytton, (" Owen 

Meredith,") English Poet, 60 

Burns, Robert, Scottish Poet, 63 

Butler, Samuel, English Poet ("Hudibras") 65 

Byron, Lord George Gordon, English Poet, 68 



GENERAL INDEX. XXIX 

PAGE 

Campbell, Thomas, English Poet, , . . . 72 

Carletox, Will, Poet and Author, 71 

Chattertox, Thomas, English Poet, 80 

Chaucer, Geoffrey, English Poet-Laureate, 82 

Claudias, Matthias, German Poet, 86 

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, English Poet and Metaphy- 
sician, 92 

Cowley, Abraham, English Poet 102 

Cowper, William, English Poet, 100 

Dante, Alighieri, Italian Poet, 117 

Derzhayex, Gabriel Romaxoyitch, Russian Poet ; Secre- 
tary of State under Catherine II., 124 

Drummoxd, William, Scottish Poet of Hathornden, . . .135 

Dryden, John, English Poet-Laureate, 134 

Fououe, Friederich Heixrich Karl, German Poet and 

Novelist, 156 

GELLERT, Christiax Furchtegott, German Poet; Pro- 
fessor of Philosoph}% University of Leipsic, 168 

Goethe, Johanx Wolfgaxg, German Poet and Author, . 174 
Goldsmith, Oliver, Irish Poet, Historian, and Novelist, . 175 

Hayne, Paul Hamilton, Poet and Journalist, 224 

Heine, Heinrich, German Poet, 225 

Hood, Thomas, English Poet, Wit, and Miscellaneous 

Writer, 236 

Jonson, Ben, English Dramatist 258 

Klopstock, Friederich Gottlieb, German Poet, .... 270 
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, Poet ; Twenty Years 

Professor of Belles Lettres, Harvard College, 292 

Lowell, James Russell, Poet, Essayist, Diplomat, . . . 294 
Miller, Cincinnatus Hiner (" Joaquin Miller "), Poet and 

Author, 317 

Milton, John, English Poet, 320 

Montgomery, James, Scottish Poet, 324 

Moore, Thomas, Irish Poet, 325 

Morris, George Perkins, Poet and Journalist, 328 

Oehlenschlaegar, Adam Gottlob, Danish Poet, .... 343 

Pope, Alexander, English Poet, 362 

Quarles, Francis, English Poet, 369 

Read, Thomas Buchanan, Poet and Artist, 376 

Rogers, Samuel, English Poet, 383 

Ruskin, John, English Poet-Laureate and Art Writer, . . 389 

Saxe, Johx Godfrey, Humorous Poet, 394 

Schiller, Johaxn Christoph Friederich, German Poet, 396 



XXX GENERAL INDEX. 

PAGE 

Shakespeare, William, English Dramatist, 405 

Southey, Robert, English Poet-Laureate, 416 

Spenser, Edmund, English Poet-Laureate, 420 

Stedman, Edmund Clarence, Poet and War Correspond- 
ent, 426 

Swinburne, Algernon Charles, English Poet, 441 

Tait, Nahum, Poet-Laureate of England, 443 

Tasso, Torquato, Italian Poet, 442 

Taylor, Bayard, Poet, Diplomat, Author, and Traveler, . 444 

Taylor, Benjamin Franklin, Poet and Author, 445 

Tennyson, Alfred, English Poet-Laureate, 451 

Thomson, James, Scottish Poet, 458 

Tupper, Martin Farquhar, English Poet and Author, . . 468 

Uhland, Johann Ludwig, German Lyric Poet, 472 

Vaughan, Henry, English Poet, 474 

Vere, de, Sir Aubrey, Irish Poet, 475 

VERE, de, Thomas, Irish Poet and Miscellaneous Writer. . 476 

White, Henry Kirke, English Poet, 500 

Whittier, John Greenleaf, Quaker Poet, 501 

Willis, Nathaniel Parker, Poet and Journalist, .... 508 
Woodworth, Samuel, ("The Old Oaken Bucket") .... 520 
Wordsworth, William, English Poet-Laureate, 521 

Presidents of Associations and Leaders of Great flovements. 

Arthur, P. M.. Grand Chief of Brotherhood Locomotive 

Engineers, 18 

Bonney, Charles Carroll, President World's Congress 

Auxiliary, 42 

Bennett, Sir Risdon, President of the Royal Society of 

Physicians, 30 

Brunot, Felix R., President of American Reform Associa- 
tion; Philanthropist, 56 

Depew, Chauncey Mitchell, President New York Central 
and Hudson River Railroad Company; Popular Orator, 119 

Dillon, John Forest, President American Bar Associa- 
tion, 131 

Dupin, Andre Marie Jean Jacques, President Chamber 
of Deputies, and of the Legislative Assembly ; French 
Lawyer, 137 

Harkness, William, President American Association for 

the Advancement of Science ; Astronomer, 214 

McCurdy, Hugh, Grand Master of Knights Templar, Uni- 
ted States of America 311 



GENERAL INDEX. XXXI 

PAGE 

Osbon, B. S., Rear-Admiral, Commanding National Associ- 
ation of Naval Veterans, 345 

Palmer, Thomas Witherell, President of World's Co- 
lumbian Commission, 348 

Powderly, Terence Vincent, Late General Master 

Workman of the Knights of Eabor, 365 

Sovereign, James R., Master Workman of the Knights of 
Eabor, 417 

Stokes, George Gabriel, President of the Royal Society ; 
Professor of Mathematics, University of Cambridge ; M. 
P. for the University, ' 432 

Stuart, George Hay, President of the Christian Commis- 
sion during the Civil War ; Philanthropist 437 

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Adams, John, Second President, 2 

Adams, John Quincy, Sixth President, 3 

Buchanan, James, Fifteenth President, 56 

Cleveland, Stephen Grover, Twenty-second President, 90 

Garfieed, James Abram, Twentieth President, 164 

Grant, Ueysses Simpson, Eighteenth President, . . . .195 

Harrison, Benjamin, Twenty-third President, 216 

Harrison, William Henry, Ninth President, 215 

Hayes, Rutherford Birchard, Nineteenth President, . . 223 

Jackson, Andrew, Seventh President, 247 

Jefferson, Thomas, Third President, 252 

Johnson, Andrew, Seventeenth President, 255 

Lincoln, Abraham, Sixteenth President, 285 

Madison, James, Fourth President, 307 

Pierce, Franklin, Fourteenth President, 361 

Polk, James Knox, Eleventh President, 364 

Taylor, Zachary, Twelfth President, 447 

Tyler, John, Tenth President, 469 

Van Buren, Martin, Eighth President, 473 

Washington, George, First President, 484 

SCIENTISTS: Astronomers, Botanists, Chemists, Geologists, Math= 
ematicians, Meteorologists, Naturalists, Physicists, and 
Phrenologists. 

Agassiz, Jean Louis Rudolphe, Swiss Naturalist and 

Teacher in America, 5 

Bonnet, Charles, Swiss Naturalist and Philosopher, . . 39 

Boyle, Robert, Irish Chemist and Philosopher, 43 



XXX11 GENERAL INDEX. 

PAGE 

Brahe, Tycho, Danish Astronomer, 52 

Brewster, Sir David, Scottish Physicist, 46 

Combe, George, Scottish Phrenologist, 94 

Copernicus, Nickolaus, Prussian Astronomer, 98 

Cuvier, Baron Georges, French Naturalist, no 

Dana, James Dwight, Geologist and Mineralologist ; Pro- 
fessor of those Branches of Science in Yale College, . .114 

Davy, Sir Humphrey, English Chemist, 115 

Dawson, Sir John William, Canadian Geologist and Nat- 
uralist; President of the McGill College, Toronto, . .118 
De Luc, Jean Andre, Genevese Geologist and Meteorolo- 
gist, 121 

Draper, John Wieeiam, Chemist, Physiologist, Author, 

and Educator, 135 

EueER, Leonard, Swiss Mathematician, 143 

Faraday, Michael, English Chemist and Naturalist, . . 147 

Foweer, Orson Squire, Phrenologist, 155 

Gaeilei, Galileo, Italian Astronomer, 165 

Gladstone, J. H., English Scientist, 172 

Gray, Asa, Botanist, 196 

Gregory, Olinthus Gilbert, English Mathematician and 

Philosopher, 199 

Guyot, Arnold, Geologist and Naturalist, 202 

Hamilton, Sir William Rowen, Irish Astronomer and 

Geometer, 210 

Harrington, Mark Walrod, Astronomer; Chief of 

Weather Bureau, 215 

Henry, Joseph, Physicist ; Late Secretary of Smithsonian 

Institute, 226 

Herschel, Sir John Frederick William, English As- 
tronomer and Philosopher, 227 

Humboldt, Frederick Heinrich Alexander, German 

Naturalist, 241 

KEPLER, Johann, German Astronomer, 266 

Kidd, John, English Chemist, Educator, and Writer, . . . 268 

Lardner, Dionysius, British Astronomer, 273 

LE Conte, Joseph, Geologist, Author, and Educator, . . . 278 

Linnaeus, Care, Swedish Botanist, 284 

Lyell, Sir Charles, British Geologist, 299 

Maury, Matthew Fontaine, Hydrographer, 310 

Maxwell, James Clerk, English Physicist, 306 

Miller, Hugh, Scottish Geologist and Author, 318 

Mitchell, Ormsby McKnight, Astronomer; Major-Gen- 
eral in Civil War, 320 



GENERAL INDEX. xxxiii 

PAGE 

Pfaff, Friederich, Professor of Natural Science, Univer- 
sity of Erlanger, Bavaria, , 357 

Ray, John, English Naturalist, 376 

Rittenhouse, David, Astronomer and Mathematician, . .379 

Ritter, Carl, German Geographer, 380 

Silliman, Benjamin, Physicist and Educator, 411 

Stewart, Balfour, British Physicist, 43 1 

Swift, Lewis, Astronomer, 441 

Tait, Peter Guthrie, Professor of Mathematics, Univer- 
sity of Edinburgh, 431 

Tenney, Sanborn, Naturalist and Educator, 449 

The Declaration of Eight Hundred Scientists of 

Great Britain, 445 

Winchell, Alexander, Geologist and Educator, . . . .514 
Winthrop, John, Physicist; Professor of Mathematics 

and Natural Philosophy in Harvard College, 1738-1779, 517 

SOLDIERS : Generals and Admirals. 

Armstrong, Samuel Chapman, Federal Brigadier-Gen- 
eral ; Principal Hampton Normal Agricultural Insti- 
tute, 16 

Bismarck, Otto Eduard Leophold, Prince, Prussian 

Chancellor, 32 

Dix, John Adams, Federal Major-General and Statesman, . 132 

Edwards, Sir Herbert, English General 140 

Fairchild, Lucius, Federal Brigadier-General ; Governor, 

Diplomat, Commander-in-Chief of G. A. R 146 

Fairfax, Sir Thomas, Parliamentary General ; Command- 
er-in-Chief of Civil Wars, 146 

Farragut, David Glasgow, Federal Admiral, 148 

Foote, Andrew Hull, Federal Rear-Admiral, 153 

Gordon, Charles George, English Major-General; "Chi- 
nese Gordon," 176 

Haig, F. T., English Major-General, 204 

Havelock, Sir Henry, British Major-General, 219 

Howard, Oliver Otis, Major-General of the United 

States Army, 239 

Jackson, Thomas Jonathan, " Stonewall," Confederate 

Major-General, 248 

LEE, Robert Edward, Confederate Commander-in-Chief; 

President Washington and Lee University, 279 

Longstreet, James, Confederate Major-General; Diplo- 
mat 291 



XXXIV GENERAL INDEX. 

PAGE 

LUCE, Stephen Bleecker. Rear-Adiuiral, United States 

Navy 298 

McGregor, Sir Duncan, Scottish Major-General 303 

Meade. George Gordon. Federal Major-General 315 

Merritt, Wesley. Brigadier-General of the United States 

Army 316 

Moltke. Count Helmuth Von. Prussian Field-Marshal, 321 

Fhayre. Sir Robert. English Major-General 358 

Fleasaxton. Alfred. Federal Major-Genera] 361 

Porter. David Dixon, Federal Rear- Admiral 363 

Schofield. John McAllister. Commander-in-Chief of the 

United States Army 39S 

Scott. Winfield. Federal Lientenant-General 401 

Sickles. Daniel Edgar. Federal Major-General ; Diplo- 
mat, and Congressman 412 

Smith. Ephraim Kirby. Confederate Major-General ; Ed- 
ucator 414 

Thomas. George Henry, Federal Major-General 450 

Touch, John Gray. English Lientenant-General 465 

Townsend, Frederick. Federal Brigadier-General. . . . 466 
Upshur. John Henry. Federal Rear-Admiral 472 

STATESMEN: Congressmen, Diplomats, and Senators of the 
United States; Prime Ministers of England, and Hembers 
of Parliament. 

Adams. Samuel. Signer of the Declaration of Independence. 5 

Ames. Fisher, Congressman and Orator 12 

Andrew. John Albion. War Governor of Massachusetts, . 14 

Anthony. Henry Bowen. United States Senator 16 

Armstrong. John. Congressman. United States Senator, 

Diplomat, General 17 

Beck. James Burnie. United States Senator 28 

Black, Jeremiah Sullivan. Attorney-General under Pres- 
ident Buchanan : Lawyer 31 

Blackwood. Sir S. A., English Statesman 36 

Blaine. James Gillespie. Twenty Years in Congress ; 
Thrice Speaker of the House : Secretary of State under 

Presidents Garfield and Harrison 34 

Bradish. Luther. Statesman and Philanthropist 44 

Brassey. The Right Honorable. English Statesman. . . 45 

Bridgman. F. C. Member of Parliament : British General, . 47 
. Briggs. George Nixon. Congressman Six Successive 

Terms ; Governor of Massachusetts. 1S43-1S51 4$ 






GENERAL INDEX. XXXV 

PAGE 

Bright, John, English Statesman and Orator, 48 

Brougham, Henry, English Statesman and Author, ... 51 
Brown, Joseph Emerson, United States Senator, .... 54 
Bruce, Sir George, English Statesman, ... • . . . . 55 

Buchanan, James, Congressman, 57 

Buckingham, William Alfred, " War Governor"; United 

States Senator, 58 

Bunsen, Christian Karl Josias, Prussian Ambassador; 

Scholar, 61 

Burke, Edmund, English Statesman and Orator, .... 64 
Butler, Benjamin Franklin, Attorney-General under 

President Jackson, 64 

Buxton, Sir Thomas Fowell, English Statesman, . . . . 6j 
Campbell, George John Douglas, " Duke of Argyll"; 

English Statesman, 70 

Campbell, James A., Member of Parliament, 75 

Canning, George, Prime Minister of England, 72 

Cass, Lewis, General, Lawyer, Governor, Diplomat, United 

States Senator, 76 

Cecil, William, " Lord Burleigh ," Prime Minister of Eng- 
land, yy 

Cheke, Sir John, English Statesman, 82 

Clay, Cassius Marcellus, Diplomat to Russia under Pres- 
idents Lincoln and Grant, 86 

Clay, Henry, Secretary of United States under John Q. 
Adams ; Five times Speaker of the House ; United 

States Senator, 87 

Colfax, Schuyler, Congressman ; Speaker of the Thirty- 
eighth, Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses, .... 93 
Colquitt, Alfred Hold, United States Senator, .... 91 
Cox, Samuel Sullivan, Congressman, Diplomat, Popular 

Orator, 101 

Croker, John Wilson, British Statesman and Author; 

Secretary to the Admiralty, 1 809-1 830, 103 

Crossley, Edward, Member of Parliament, 104 

Curran, The Right Honorable John Philpot, Irish Or- 
ator and Statesman, 107 

De Tocqueville, Alexis Charles Henry Clerel, 

French Statesman and Political Writer, 464 

Dolph, Joseph Norton, United States Senator, 133 

Eaton, Dorman Bridgman, Civil Service Commissioner, . 138 
Edgerton, Alfred P., Civil Service Commissioner, . . .139 
Fairfax, Sir Thomas, Parliamentary General ; Commander 

in-Chief Civil Wars, 146 



XXXVI GENERAL INDEX. 

PAGE 

Fish, Hamilton, United States Senator, Secretary of State 
under President Grant, 1869-1877; President Society of 

Cincinnati, 151 

Foot, Solomon, United States Senator, 1851-1866, .... 152 
Foster, Charles, Secretary of Treasury under President 

Benjamin Harrison, 154 

Foster, John Watson, Secretary of State under President 

Benjamin Harrison, 154 

Fowler, Sir Robert, Member of Parliament, 156 

Fox, Charles James, English Statesman and Orator, . .157 

Francis, Sir Philip, English Statesman, 157 

Frye, William Pierce, United States Senator, 162 

Gladstone, William Ewart, Prime Minister of England ; 

Author, 171 

Gordon, John Brown, United States Senator, 178 

Hamilton, Alexander, Secretary of State under Presi- 
dent Washington, 208 

Hampden, John, English Statesman, 211 

Henry, Patrick, Statesman and Orator, 227 

Hewitt, Abram Stevens, Statesman, and Ex-Mayor of 

New York, 228 

Hill, Benjamin Harvey, United States Senator, . . . .228 

Hoar, George Frisbie, United States Senator, 231 

Hoane, Samuel, Member of Parliament, 232 

Houston, Samuel, United States Senator, 237 

Hunter, Sir William, English Statesman, 244 

Ingalls, John James, United States Senator, 1873-1891; 

President of Senate pro tempore, 1887, . 245 

Jay, John, Diplomat under President Grant, 249 

Kelley, William Darrah, Congressman, 1 860-1 890, 

" Father of the House," 264 

LEE, Richard Henry, Orator, Statesman, and Patriot. . . 279 

Long, John Davis, Statesman, 290 

EyttlETon, Lord George, English Statesman, 300 

McKinley, William, Congressman ; Governor of Ohio, . . 313 
Marsh, George Perkins, Diplomat and Philologist, . . . 304 
Milnes, Richard Monckton, Lord Houghton, English 

Statesman and Writer, 319 

Morse, Elijah A., Congressman and Manufacturer, . . , 326 

Morton, Oliver Perry, " War Governor," 330 

Oldroyd, Mark, Member of Parliament, . . 343 

Oxenstiern, Axel, Swedish Ambassador, 347 

Pease, Sir A., Member of Parliament, 356 



GENERAL INDEX. xxxvii 

PAGE 

PEELE, Sir Robert, English Statesman; twice Prime 

Minister, 154 

Phipps, Sir William, Early Governor of Massachusetts, . 359 

Pitt, William, English Statesman, Orator, 363 

Radstock, The Right Honorable, English Statesman, 372 
Randall, Samuel Jackson, Congressman, 1863-1890; 

twice Speaker of the House, 373 

Randolph, John, Orator and Statesman, 374 

Rives, William Cabell, Statesman and Diplomat, . . . 380 
Russell, ( Lord William, English Statesman and Patriot, . 387 

Ruston, Joseph, Member of Parliament, 391 

Seward, William Henry, Secretary of State under Pres- 
ident Lincoln, 404 

Seymour, Horatio, War Governor of New York, .... 402 
Sherman, John, United States Senator since 1861, .... 409 
Sibley, Henry Hastings, Congressman ; Major-General in 

Civil War, 411 

Sidney, Sir Philip, English Statesman and Poet, .... 410 

Smith, Samuel, Member of Parliament, 416 

Spicer, Albert, Member of Parliament, 419 

Sprague, William, United States Senator, 1863-1875 ; Gov- 
ernor ; Manufacturer, 42 1 

Stanley, Edward Geoffrey Smith (" Lord Derby "), 

Prime Minister of England, 422 

Stephens, Alexander Hamilton, Congressman, .... 429 

Stewart, Mark J., Member of Parliament, 430 

Stocton, Richard, Signer of Declaration of Independ- 
ence, 431 

Swift, John Lindsay, Deputy Collector of Customs, . . . 440 

Temple, Sir Richard, Member of Parliament, 448 

Temple, Sir William, English Statesman, Diplomat, and 

Author, . 449 

Thomson, Charles, Secretary of the First Continental 

Congress, 458 

Tocqueville, Alexis Charles Henry Clerel, French 

Political Writer, 464 

Trumbull, Jonathan, Colonial Statesman, 467 

Vane, Sir Henry, English Republican Statesman, . . . .471 
Vansittart, Nicholas (" Lord Bexley "), Member of Par- 
liament, 474 

Voorhees, Daniel Wolsey, United States Senator since 

1877, 477 

Walker, Joseph H., Congressman, 478 



XXXV111 GENERAL INDEX. 

PAGE 

Walsingham, Sir Francis, English Statesman, 481 

Wheeler, Joseph, Member of Congress ; Senior Confed- 
erate Cavalry General, 499 

Wheeler, William Almon, Congressman ; Vice-President 

of the United States, 499 

Wilson, Henry, United States Senator, 509 

Wieson, John, Member of Parliament, 503 

Windom, Wieeiam, United States Senator ; Secretary of the 

Treasury under Garfield, 516 

Winthrop, John, First Governor of Massachusetts Colony, 516 
Winthrop, Robert Charles, Statesman and Author, . .518 
Wotton, Sir Henry, English Diplomat and Author, . . . 522 
Wright, Carroll Davidson, Statistician ; Commissioner 

of Labor, 523 




&* 



A SCORE OF DEFENDERS. 
*L 2*_ 



*K 



The Argument of this book is that the Famous 
Men of Christendom are firm believers in CHRIST 
and the BIBLE, and they have so declared them- 
selves in clear and emphatic terms. We here deploy 
twenty chosen men of commanding name and weighty 
utterance to sustain the position thus taken. 



JT^Sr 




*X 



OST men at the head of great movements are Chris- 
tian men. — William E. Gladstone. 

Christianity has been embraced by the wisest, 
purest, strongest, and noblest men in the world. — 
Thomas Hughes. 

The Christian religion is no longer the badge of weak- 
lings and enthusiasts, but of distinction, enforcing respect. 
— William McKinley. 

My faith is, though a great man may, by a rare possibility, 
be an infidel, an intellect of the highest order must build on 
Christianity. — Thomas De Quincey. 

This admirable author (Shakespeare) , as well as the best 
and greatest men in all ages and of all nations, seems to have 
had his mind thoroughly seasoned with religion. — STEELE 
and Addison. 

The loftiest intellects since the advent of Christianity have 
had faith, a practical faith, in the doctrines of the Gospel : 
. . . Descartes and Newton, Liebnitz and Pascal, Racine 
and Corneille, Charlemagne and Louis XIV. — Napoleon. 

As to the Christian religion, besides the strong evidence 
which we have for it, there is a balance in its favor for the 
number of great men who have been convinced of its truth 



XXXIX 



xl A SCORE OF DEFENDERS. 

after a serious consideration of the question. — Samuel 
Johnson. 

They can no longer assert, that piety is confined to men 
of little minds when they behold the highest degree of it in 
a geometrician (Pascal) of the first rank, the most acute meta- 
physician, and the most penetrating mind that ever existed. 
— Pierre Bayle. 

The books of Moses, no monument, either historical or 
astronomical, has yet been able to prove false; but with 
them, on the contrary, agree, in the most remarkable man- 
ner, the results obtained by the most learned philosophers 
and profoundest geometricians. — Adriano Balbi. 

In Eulogy of Daniel Webster: And beyond all this he 
died in the faith of the Christian — humble, but hopeful — 
adding another to the long list of eminent men who have 
searched the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and have found it to be 
the word and the will of God.— Lewis Cass. 

It is no slight testimonial, both to the merit and worth of 
Christianity, that in all ages since its promulgation the great 
mass of those who have risen to eminence by their profound 
wisdom and integrity have recognized and reverenced Jesus 
of Nazereth as the Son of the living God. — John Quincy 
Adams. 

Even to the end of time, all wise and intelligent men must 
bow themselves reverently before this Jesus of Nazareth ; 
and the more wise, intelligent, and noble they themselves 
are, the more humbly will they recognize the exceeding 
nobleness of this great and glorious manifestation of the 
Divine Life. — J. G. FiCHTE. 

When you are told that these Missionary Societies are 
nonsense, "supported by a pack of old women getting to- 
gether," then you may point to those men — the best states- 
men and the best soldiers of India, who have by their lives, 
and on every occasion in which they could, sustained Chris- 
tian Missions. — The Earl of Northbrook. 



A SCORE OF DEFENDERS. xli 

The greatest men have believed in our Saviour . . . 
that is to say, the most enlightened men on the earth, in the 
most philosophical of all ages, and in full vigor of mind and 
body, have believed in Jesus Christ ; and the great Conde, 
when dying, repeated these words : " Yes, we shall see Him 
as He is, face to face." — Marquis De Vauvenargues. 

Few persons who have contemplated Christianity as it ex- 
isted the first three centuries would have imagined it pos- 
sible that it should completely supersede the Pagan worship 
around it ; that its teachers should bend the mightiest mon- 
archs to their will, and stamp their influence on every page of 
legislation, and direct the whole course of civilization for a 
thousand years. — W. B. H. L,ECKY. 

For more than a thousand years the Bible, collectively 
taken, has gone hand in hand with civilization, science, law ; 
in short, with the moral and intellectual cultivation of the 
species. Good and holy men, and the best and wisest of 
mankind, the kingly spirits of history, enthroned in the 
hearts of mighty nations, have borne witness to its influence, 
and have declared it beyond compare the most perfect in- 
strument of humanity. — S. T. Coleridge. 

The most wonderful Volume in existence is, beyond doubt, 
the Bible. And it is, most of all, wonderful that up to the 
present time, in the opinion of hundreds of thousands of the 
judicious, reflecting, and reasoning among earth's inhabit- 
ants, during three thousand years since its first book was writ- 
ten, it has maintained its high authority, and has retained, 
in all this lapse of time, a powerful sway over the human 
mind. — General. Ormsby Macknight Mitchel. 

Men of simple minds, devoid of curiosity and of learning, 
are Christians through reverence ; minds of middle growth 
and moderate capacities are the most prone to error and 
doubt ; but higher intellects, more clear-sighted and grounded 
in science, form a superior class of believers, who, through 
long and religious investigations, arrive at the fountain light 



xlii A SCORE OF DEFENDERS. 

of the Scriptures, and feel the mysterious and Divine mean- 
ing of our ecclesiastical doctrines. — Michael De Mon- 
taigne. 

We are sometimes reminded that the religion of the cruci- 
fied Redeemer may do for women, for children, for weak- 
minded men, but not for men of experience, observation, and 
reflection. Men who see not God in our history have surely 
lost sight of the fact that from the landing of the Mayflower 
to this hour the great men whose names are indissolubly as- 
sociated with the colonization, rise and progress of the re- 
public have borne testimony to the vital truths of Chris- 
tianity. — Henry Wilson, United States Senator. 

Thus you will find all that is great, or wise, or splendid, 
or illustrious, among created beings ; all the minds gifted 
beyond ordinary measure, if not inspired by the universal 
Author for the advancement and dignity of the world, though 
divided by distant ages, and by the clashing opinions dis- 
tinguishing them from one another, yet joining, as it were, in 
one sublime chorus to celebrate the truths of Christianity, 
and laying upon its holy altars the never-fading offerings of 
their immortal wisdom. — Lord Chancellor Erskine. 

It is a favorite ruse de guerre with some writers and 
speakers against Christianity to represent that those oppo- 
sitions are due to modern science, meaning thereby physical 
and natural sciences, and that nearly all scientific men dis- 
believe the religion of Christ. These, however, are ground- 
less assertions. The experience of fifty years, and acquaint- 
ance with very many scientific men of different types in 
different countries, enables me to say, that very many of the 
most distinguished men were Christians, and I know many 
others, who, if not Christians, may be said to be "Not far 
from the kingdom of God." The utterances of a few popular 
men should not be taken as expressing the views of the 
whole class. The best and ablest scientific men have all 
along been devoted Christians, and Christianity has all along 
helped to make them what they are. — Sir John William 
Dawson. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



JOHN ABERCROMBIE,* 

Scottish Physician. (1780-1844.) 



W 



f f°^ w f*«MdDandoft/, e 



/\ 



7^/ 



UIvTlVATK an ac- 
quaintance with these 
important truths by a 
daily and careful 
study of the Holy 
Scriptures. By 
daily prayer seek 
the pardon of your 
sins through Jesus 
Christ, the only Mediator. 
When in doubt with regard 
to any piece of conduct, try it 
by this test — is it agreeable to 
the law of God? will it bear 
the reflection of a dying hour? 
will it stand at the bar of Om- 
nipotence? Thus living under 
the eye of the Almighty, you 
may look for a peace of 
mind which can not be en- 
joyed in any other way. 
You may look for the blessing of God on all your concerns, 
and through Jesus Christ an inheritance in the resurrection 
of the just. — To a Graduating Class of Medical Students. 
See "Life of John Abercrombie" Volume VII of "Short Bi- 
ographies for the People" by George Wilson. 

(*) The full name, when possible to obtain, is given. The nationality 
of every witness is designated, with the exception of the American and 
those who are American citizens by adoption ; birth-dates, honorary de- 
grees, and titles are omitted.— S. A. N. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

CHARLES KENDALL ADAMS, 

President of the University of Wisconsin. 

BELIEVE that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and the 
Son of Mary, and that He came into this world for the 
salvation of men. I believe that the Holy Bible is a 
divine revelation to man, and that through its sacred 
teaching, faithful instruction in righteousness, and heavenly 
inspiration, all men may find the way of everlasting life. The 
Christian religion will ultimately triumph; "the kingdoms of 
this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His 
Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever." 



O 





JOHN ADAMS, 

Second President of the United States, (1735-1826.) 

HAVE examined all religions, as well as my narrow 
sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life, would 

allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best Book 

(90 

in the world. It contains more little philosophy than 
all the libraries I have seen. — To Thomas Jeffei' son. 

Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the 
Bible for their only law-book, and every member should 
regulate his conduct by the precepts there contained! Every 
member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, 
frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity 
towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence 
toward Almighty God. — Pages 6 and 7, Volume XI, "Life and 
Works of John Adams" 

That you and I shall meet in a better world I have no 
doubt than we now exist on the same globe ; if my reason did 
not convince me of this, Cicero's Dream of Scipio, and his 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



Essay on Friendship and Old Age would have been sufficient 
for that purpose. But Jesus taught us that a future state is a 
social state, when He promised to prepare places in His 
Father's house of many mansions, for His disciples. — Page 
390, Volume X y "Life and Works of John Adams:' 



JOHN QLJINCY ADAMS, 

Sixth President of the United States. (1767-1848.) 





IR, I might go 
through the 
whole of the 
sacred history 
of the Jews to the 
advent of our Saviour 
and find innum- 
erable examples of 
women who not only 
took an active part in 
politics of their times, 
but who are held up 
with honor to poster- 
ity for doing so. Our 
Saviour himself, while 
on earth, performed 
that most stupendous miracle, the raising of Lazarus from 
the dead, at the petition of a woman. — From a speech in 
Congress, June 16, and July 7, 1838. 

There are two prayers that I love to say — the first is the 
Lord's Prayer, and because the Lord taught' it; and the other 
is what seems to be a child's prayer: "Now I lay me down to 
sleep," and I love to say that because it suits me. 1 have been 
repeating it every night for many years past, and I say it yet, 
and I expect to say it my last night on earth if I am con- 
scious. But I have added a few words more to the prayer so 



4 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

as to express my trust in Christ, and also to acknowledge 
what I ask, for I ask as a favor, and not because I deserve it. 

This is it: 

" Now I lay me down to sleep, 
I pray the Iyord my soul to keep ; 
If I should die before I wake, 
I pray the Lord my soul to take ; 
For Jesus' sake. Amen." 
(See The Churchman, of June 14, 1890.) 

I deem myself fortunate in having the opportunity, at a 
stage of a long life drawing rapidly to its close, to bear at this 
place, the capital of our National Union, in the Hall of Rep- 
resentatives of the North American people, in the chair of 
the presiding officer of the assembly representing the whole 
people, the personification of the great and mighty nation — to 
bear my solemn testimonial of reverence and gratitude to that 
Book of books, the Holy Bible . . . The Bible carries with it 
the history of the creation, the fall and redemption of man, 
and discloses to him, in the infant born at Bethlehem, the 
Legislator and Saviour of the world. — From his address as 
chairman before the American Bible Society on the evening of 
February 27, 1844. 



WILLIAM TAYLOR ADAMS, 

["OLIVER OPTIC"] 

Story-Writer. 

WAS a constant church-goer for fifty years until my 
hearing failed me, so that I do not attend divine services 
or meetings of any kind. I was connected with the 
Sunday-school for twenty years. 
I regard Jesus Christ as the purest and holiest Being ever 
on earth, and whose teachings, ministry, and example have 
been "the Light of the World." I look upon the Bible as the 
greatest and best Book ever given to man, especially the New 
Testament, which contains the Life and the Word of our Lord 
and Saviour. <^ /?_ }fi\_ 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

SAMUEL ADAMS, 

Oj-^ Signer of the Declaration of Independence. (1722-1803.) 



J^ PRINCIPALLY, and first of all, I resign my soul to the 
^ Q Almighty Being who gave it, and my body I commit 
$ Kv to the dust, relying on the merits of Jesus Christ for 

the pardon of my sins. — From his Will. 
I conceive we can not better express ourselves than by 
humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world . . . 
that the confusions that are and have been among the nations 
may be overruled by the promoting and speedily bringing in 
the holy and happy period when the kingdoms of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and 
the people willingly bow to the sceptre of Him who is the 
Prince of Peace. — Pages 378 and 366, Volume II f "Life and 
Public Services of Samuel Adams" by William V. Wells. 



JEAN LOUIS RUDOLPHE AGASSIZ, 

Naturalist and Teacher in America. (1807-1873.) 

^F by the unity of the races of man be meant nothing 
more than all mankind were endowed with one com- 
mon nature, intellectual and physical, derived from the 
Creator of all men; were under the same moral govern- 
ment of the universe, and sustained similar relations with 
the Deity, I side with those who maintain the unity of the 
race. It is quite a different question whether the different 
races of men were descended from different stocks, and I re- 
gard the point as fully proved by divine revelation. The 
Jewish history was the history, not of divers races, but of a 
single race of mankind ; but the existence of other races is 
often incidentally alluded to, and distinctly implied, if not 
absolutely asserted, in the Sacred Volume. — Part If 
u Pickering } s Paces of Man." 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



JOSEPH ADDISON, 





English Poet and Essayist. (1672-1719.) 

yOME parts of our 
Saviour's history 
may be reasona- 
bly expected from 
pagans. I mean such parts 
as might be known to 
those who lived at a dis- 
tance from Judea, as well 
as those who were the fol- 
lowers and eyewitnesses 
of Christ. Such particu- 
lars are most of these 
which follow, and which 
are all attested by some 
one or other of those 
heathen authors who 
lived in or near the age 
of our Saviour and His disciples. "That Augustus Caesar had 
ordered the whole empire to be taxed," which brought our 
Saviour's parents to Bethlehem ; this is mentioned by several 
historians, as Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dion. "That a great 
light, or a new star, appeared in the East, which directed the 
wise men to our Saviour"; this is recorded by Calcidius. "That 
Herod, the king of Palestine, so often mentioned in Roman 
history, made a great slaughter of innocent children," 
being so jealous of his successor that he put to death his own 
sons on that account; this character of him is given by several 
historians, and this cruel fact mentioned by Macrobius, a 
heathen author, who tells it as a known thing, without any 
mark or doubt about it. " That our Saviour had been in 
Egypt"; this Celsus, though he raises a monstrous story 
about it, is so far from denying that he tells us our Saviour 
learned the art of magic in that country. " That Pontius 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 7 

Pilate was governor of Jtidea ; that our Saviour was brought 
into judgment before him, and by him condemned and cru- 
cified"; this is recorded by Tacitus. " That many miraculous 
cures, and works out of the ordinary course of nature, were 
wrought by Him"; this is confessed by Julian, the apostate, 
and Hierocles, all of them not only pagans, but professed 
enemies and persecutors of Christianity. " That our Saviour 
foretold several things which came to pass according to His 
predictions"; this was attested by Phlegon in his annals, as 
we are assured by the learned Origen. " That at the time when 
our Saviour died, there was a miraculous darkness and a great 
earthquake"; this is recorded by the same Phlegon, the 
Trallian, who was likewise a pagan, and freeman to Adrian, 
the emperor .... "That Christ was worshiped as 
God among the Christians; that they would rather suffer 
death than blaspheme Him ; that they received the sacrament, 
and by it entered into a vow of abstaining from sin and wick- 
edness; that they had private assemblies of worship, and 
used to join together in hymns"; this is the account which 
Pliny the Younger gives of Christianity in his days, about 
seventy years after the death of Christ, and which agrees in 
all its circumstances with the accounts we have in Holy Writ 
of the first state of Christianity after the crucifixion of our 
blessed Saviour. ... I cannot quit this head without 
taking notice that Origen would still have triumphed more 
in the foregoing arguments had he lived an age longer to 
have seen the Roman emperors and all their governors and 
provinces submitting themselves to the Christian religion, 
and glorying in its profession, as so man}- kings and sover- 
eigns still place their relation to Christ at the head of their 
titles. — -See "The Evidences of the Christian Religion," 
Volume III, "The Works of Joseph Addison." 



Leibnitz while dying, cried out, " Thou God of Newton, 
have mercv on me." 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS, 

King of Sweden. (1594-1632.) 

[This selection was first written in prose during 1631, but 
was afterward changed to verse at the hands of another.] 



S true as God's own Word is true, 
Not earth nor hell with all its crew 
Against us shall prevail. 
A jest and byword are they grown ; 
God is with us ; we are His own ; 
Our victory can not fail. 

Amen ! IyOrd Jesus, grant our prayer ; 
Great Captain, now Thine arm make bare; 

Fight for us again ! 
So shall Thy saints and martyrs raise 
A mighty chorus to Thy praise, 

World without end. Amen. 





SIR CHARLES AITCHESON, 

Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab. 

HE Word of God in the vulgar tongue, in the lan- 
guage spoken and understood by the people, is our 
common heritage. Whatever be the differences which 
separate us into churches, however varied our inter- 
pretations of particular passages of Holy Scripture, the Bible 
is yet the one broad foundation of the faith of all of us ; the one 
common standard by which we try every creed and every 
Christian work, whether it be of God or whether it be of 
man. And, therefore, all Christians can unite, and do indeed 
rejoice to unite, in spreading the pure Word of God, without 
note or comment, as the great missionary power of the 
world. The Bible is now studied in India, and is growingly 
appreciated every day. Peshab Chunder Mozamdar, the pres- 
ent leader of the advanced Brahmos, in a recent public lec- 
ture at L/ahore, recommended the Bible as the best Book 
they could read, and the diligent study of Christ's precepts 
therein as the only way to attain purity of heart. .... 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



So the leaven is working. Christianity is in the air. The 
personality of onr blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is 
impressing itself deeper and deeper upon the people. — Frojn 
a speech at Oxford, England, 1890, before the Bible Society. 




HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS ARTHUR WILLIAM 
PATRICK ALBERT, 

Duke of Connaught; Third Son of Queen Victoria. 

AVING had the great advantage of serving in dif- 
ferent parts of our large empire, and of traveling over 
a great deal of country in many parts of the world, I, 
in common with most travelers, appreciate — even 
more, possibly, than those at home — the great benefits of 
the Word of God. We read with interest that not only prog- 
ress has been made in those countries of Europe which 
formerly only defied people of more liberal views in bringing 
the Holy Scripture, in its great and pure simplicity, into the 
humblest of homes, but we read that in Italy, in France, aye, 
and even in Spain, the work is largely extended. And 
this we may be assured is largely due to the energy and 
courage of those who are striving to the utmost, over hill and 
dale, through heat and cold, to bring the knowledge of the 
Bible to those who have it not. We know in recent years it 
has made great strides in India. 

I mention India because I am able personally to speak of 
the wonderful advancement that has been made there in the 
circulation of God's Holy Word. Feeling, as I do, the im- 
portance at the present day of upholding the Bible in its 
simplicity and in its integrity, I trust the resolution which 
I have proposed will not fall on unwilling ears. We live in 
an age when there is much scepticism, and, unfortunately, 
much selfishness abroad, and I am sure that if we wish to 
combat these evils we can not do better than attack them 
with the Bible in our hands. — Extract from his address at the 
British and Foreign Bible Society, at a meetijig in the Man- 
sion House, London, April 14, 1891. 



IO A CLOUD OF WITNESSKS. 

DAVID HAYES AGNEW, 

Physician and Surgeon. (1818-1892.) 

AM asked what I think of Christ and the Bible. The 
Bible I believe to be the revelation from Heaven ; the 
infallible Word of God. I believe in Jesus Christ, the 
eternal Son of God, God-man, through whose imputed 
merits alone can any mortal be saved. The historic Christ 
is the hope of the Church, and the life of our civilization. 




yO^Lxc^t *S/ps&U4A 




THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH, 

Poet and Miscellaneous Writer. 
THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS. 

IND was my friend who, in the Eastern land, 
Remembered me with such a gracious hand, 
And sent this Moorish Crescent, which has been 
Worn on the haughty bosom of a queen. 

I place beside this relic of the Sun 

A Cross of cedar, brought from Lebanon ; 

Once borne, perchance, by some pale monk, who trod 

The desert to Jerusalem, — and his God. 

Here do they lie, two symbols of two creeds, 
Each meaning something to our human needs ; 
Both stained with blood, and sacred made by faith, 
By tears, and prayers, and martyrdom, and death. 

That for the Moslem is, but this for me ! 
The waning Crescent lacks divinity ; 
It gives me dreams of battles, and the woes 
Of women shut in dim seraglios. 

But when this Cross of simple wood I see, 
The Star of Bethlehem shines again for me ; 
And glorious visions break upon my gloom, 
The patient Christ, and Mary at the tomb. 







THE ADORATION OF THE WISE MEN. 



AND she who had kept all things in the least affecting the little one, and pondered 
them in her heart, held it up in the light . . . And they fell down and wor- 
shiped Him . . . In a little while they arose, and returning to the camels, 
brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and laid them before the child, abating 
nothing of their worshipful speeches . . . And this was the Saviour they had 
come so far to find. — Chapter xiv, Book First, Ben-Hur, by Lew Wallace. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON. 




Scottish Historian and Essayist. (1792-1867.) 

O prophecy of our Saviour was ever more completely 
accomplished than the memorable one that He 
came to bring not peace on earth, but a sword. 
The reason is to be found in the varieties of the 
human mind; the different lights in which the same truths 
present themselves to different intellects. 

Christianity, indeed, is destined to spread mainly by its 
winning the hearts of men ; but in a world of selfishness and 
violence it is not this alone that mankind are to be con- 
verted even to their own blessing ; the first entrance must 
sometimes be won by conquest; and he who bears even the 
olive branch and Cross in one hand may often despair of 
success if he is not prepared, when necessary, to grasp the 
naked sword in the other. — Page 50, Volume I\ 312, Vol- 
ume II ) U Alls oil's Europe ; From the Fall of Napoleon to the 
Accession of Louis Napoleon" 




WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 

Painter and Author. (1779-1843.) 

B was fond of reading the Bible, and the works of the 
old Anglican divines ; and once wrote a long and able 
essay on Christianity as supplying an inherent want 
of humanity. . . . So beautiful an expression 
was on his face, as he lay sleeping in Jesus, I never saw on 
the face of any man. A most humble being he was before 
God. In Jesus Christ and the great atonement was his only 
trust. ... If ever heavenly-mindedness showed itself 
in this life, it made itself visible to the mind of Allston — 
humble, childlike, himself nothing, Christ all things. — Pages 
134, and 152, in "Artist Biographers" 




12 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

FISHER. AMES,* 

Statesman. (1758-1808.) 

^HOULD not the Bible regain the place it once held as 
a school-book ? Its morals are pure, its examples 
are captivating and noble. The reverence for the 
sacred Book that thus is early impressed lasts longest. 
If not impressed in infancy, it probably never takes firm hold 
upon the mind. One consideration more is important: In 
no Book is there so good English, so pure and so elegant, 
and by teaching all the same they will speak alike, and the 
Bible will justly remain the standard of language as well as 
* of faith. I will hazard the assertion that no man ever did or 
ever will become truly eloquent without being a constant 
reader of the Bible, and an admirer of the purity and sublim- 
ity of its language. — " Memoirs," by J. T. Kirkland. 

*He was a firm believer in Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour, and a 
well-known champion of the Bible being used in our public schools. — 
J. T. Kirkland. 




HENRI FR1EDERIC AM1EL, 

Swiss Prose Writer. (1821-1881.) 

HAVE just read seven chapters of the Gospel. Noth- 
ing calms me so much. To live in God and to do His 
work, this is religion, salvation, life eternal ; this is both 
the effect, sign and love of the Holy Spirit ; this is the 
new man announced by Jesus, and the new life into which 
we enter by the second birth. 

I heard a sermon this morning on the Holy Spirit, good 
but insufficient. Why was I not edified? Because there 
was no unction. Why was there no unction? Because 
Christianity from a rationalistic point of view is a Christian- 
ity of dignity, not of humility ; the special Christian accent 
is wanting. My impression is always the same — faith is made 
a poor, dull thing by these attempts to reduce it to simple 
psychology. I am impressed with a feeling of inappropriate- 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 1 3 

ness and maliase at the sight of philosophy in the pnlpit. 
"They have taken away my Savionr, and I know not where 
they have laid Him," so the common folk have a right to 
say, and I repeat it with them. — "AmieVs Journal" trans- 
lated by Mrs. Humphrey Ward. 



CM 



ANDRE MARIE AMPERE, 

French Electrician and Scientific Writer. (1775-1836.) 

BELIEVE in God, in His providence, in a future life, in 
the recompense of the good; in the punishment of the 
wicked ; in the sublimity and truth of the doctrines of 
Christ, in a revelation of this doctrine by a special 
divine inspiration for the salvation of the human race.* — 
Page 334, "Modem Frenchmen" by Philip Gilbert Hamerton. 

* Found on a piece of paper after his death. 




HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN, 

Danish Novelist and Story- Writer. (1805-1875.) 

EPRESSED in spirit, I took up my Bible, which lay 
before me, for an oracle ; opened it, pointed blindly 
at a place, and read : "O Israel, thou hast destroyed 
thyself; but in Me is thine help." (Hosea.) Yes, 
Father, I am weak, but Thou lookest into my heart and wilt 
be my help. 

Here also (Copenhagen) I obtained a place, after I had 
given seven pieces. The different periods of my life passed 
before me. I knelt down upon the stage and repeated our 
Lord's Prayer, just at the spot where I now sit amongst the 
first and distinguished men. Humility and prayer unto God 
for strength to deserve happiness, filled my heart. May He 
always enable me to preserve these feelings. — From " The 
Story of My Life," by Hans Christian Andersen. 



14 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JOHN ALBION ANDREW, 

c\ Statesman, Governor of Massachusetts. (1818-1867.) 

CHRISTIANITY, the true, the perfect, the last revela- 
X ^J tion to the human soul, makes her commanding ap- 
~>)-(p peal to us, as men, and as scholars. And we are feeble 
as we arefalse y if we refuse to bow down before her. 
To what purpose is culture, if it rise not above the earth we 
tread upon ? Of what avail is learning, if we are ignorant of 
that science toward which all philosophy has been strug- 
gling, and of which Christianity is the teacher? Let the lips 
of the orator be touched with a living coal from off the altar 
of the Lord ; let the poet breathe the airs of Palestine, once 
vocal with the music and the harp of David ; let the philos- 
opher be instructed by the profound metaphysics of Paul ; 
let the whole man be purified by the simple, the sublime re- 
velation of the Gospel. — Page 195, "Memoir of Governor 
Andrew" with Personal Reminisce) ices, by P. IV. Chandler. 



JAMES BURRILL ANGELL, 

President of the University of Michigan. 

BELIEVE that Jesus Christ was the Son of Man and 
the Son of God ; that He came to earth on a divine 
mission to enable us to have eternal life ; and I believe 
the Bible contains the message of divine truth for our 
illumination, guidance, and salvation. Through Christ and 
the Holy Scriptures we have a revelation of God's will con- 
cerning man, and of His fatherly love to man. 





A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



MICHAEL ANGELO, 

Italian Painter and Sculptor. (1475-1564.) 

Sculpture and painting, rival arts, 
Ye can no longer soothe my breast ; 

'Tis love Divine alone imparts 
The promise of a future rest. 

On that my steadfast soul relies, 

My trust the Cross, my hope the skies. 



15 




GIVE my soul to God, my body to the earth, and 
my worldly possessions to my nearest kin, charging 
them to remember the sufferings of Jesus Christ- 
Live on (to his father), and if you are not to share in the 
honors of this world like other citizens, it is enough to eat 
bread, and to live in the faith of Christ, as I do, for I live 
humbly ; and I do not care for the life and honors of this 

world God forgive us all ! — "Life of Michael 

Angelo" by Charles Clement. 




l6 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

HENRY BOWEN ANTHONY, 

United States Senator. (1815-1884. ) 

"E knew, for God, whose prophet he was, revealed 
it to him, that the great principles for which he con- 
tended, and for which he suffered, founded in the 
eternal fitness of things, would endure forever. He 
did not inquire if his name would survive a generation. In 
his vision of the future he saw mankind emancipated from 
the thralldom of priestcraft, from the blindness of bigotry, 
from the cruelties of intolerance. He saw the nations walk- 
ing forth into the liberty wherewith Christ had made them 
free. — Eulogy of Roger Williams, in Congress, January 9, 
1872. 

SAMUEL CHAPMAN ARMSTRONG, 

General and Principal of Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. 

(1837-1893.) 

>HE best thought and richest experience of the world 
thus far give an overwhelming testimony to the effect 
that Christ and the Scriptures are the foundation of 
all good and of all hope in the world. In them only 
is there progress and salvation for mankind. No human beings 
are too ignorant, too low, or too debasing for the redemption 
that is offered through our Lord Jesus Christ. Attacks and 
criticisms can never weaken the power of the Bible, but have 
left it stronger than ever. It will yet lighten the whole 
world, and the most blessed lot in human life is that of those 
whose part it is to teach or preach Christ and Him crucified, 
and to make clear to His benighted children the precious 
truths of the Word of God. 





I 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. IJ 

JOHN ARMSTRONG, 

Congressman, United States Senator, Diplomat, and General. 
(i725- I7 9 5 ) 



( 



J OR is this spiritual and moral disease to be healed 
by a better education, a few external, transient 
thoughts. It requires the hand of the great Physi- 
cian, the Lord Jesus Christ, by His Holy Spirit, and 
belief of the truth renewing the state of the mind and dispo- 
sition of the heart as well, thereby leading the soul from a 
sense or fear of the wrath of God, the penalty of this broken 
law, and helpless in itself, to flee to the merits of Jesus, that 
only refuge or foundation which God hath laid in His Church, 
and who was made sin for us (that is, a sin-offering), that all 
"believers be made the righteousness of God by Him." — 
Page 78, "Centennial Biography, Men of Mark of the Cum- 
berland Valley" by Alfred Nevin, LL.D. 



ERNST MORITZ ARNDT, 

German Patriot, Poet, and Professor of History at Bonn. (1769-1860.) 



I KNOW IN WHOM I PUT MY TRUST. 

Translated by Catherine Winkworih. 

KNOW in whom I put my trust, 
I know what standeth fast, 
"Qy When all things here dissolve like dust 
Or smoke before the blast; 
I know what still endures, howe'er 

All else may quake and fall; 
When lies the prudent men ensnare, 
And dreams the wise enthrall. 

It is the Dayspring from on high, 

The adamantine rock, 
Whence never storm can make me fly, 

That fears no earthquake's shock ; 
My Jesus Christ, my sure Defence, 

My Saviour, and my Light, 
That shines within and scatters thence 

Dark phantoms of the night. 




l8 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

MATTHEW ARNOLD, 

English Essayist and Poet. (1822-1888.) 

RY all ways of righteousness you can think of, and 
you will find that no way brings you to it except the 
way to Jesus. Attempt to do without Israel's God 
that makes for righteousness, and you will find out 
your mistake. Attempt to reach righteousness by any way 
except that of Jesus, and you will find out also your mistake ! 
This is the thing that can prove itself to be so, and it will 
prove itself because it is so. — " The Bible and the Nineteenth 
Century" by L. T Townsend. 

To the Bible men will return because they can not do 
without it. Because happiness is our being's end and aim, 
and happiness belongs to righteousness, and righteousness is 
revealed in the Bible, for this simple reason will men return 
to the Bible, just as a man who tried to give up food, think- 
ing it was a vain thing, and that he could do without it, would 
return to food ; or a man who tried to give up sleep, think- 
ing it was a vain thing, and he could do without it, would re- 
turn to sleep. — Chautauqua Text-Book, No. 8. 



P. M. ARTHUR, 

Grand Chief Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. 

ACCEPTED Jesus Christ some thirty-five years ago as 
the only true and divine Saviour, and He has been my 
unfailing Friend ever since. I believe the Holy Bible 
is the Word of God, and that men spake or wrote the 
Scriptures as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. " Blessed 
is he who readeth, and they that hear the words of this 
prophecy, and keep those things that are written therein." 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 19 

SIR EDWIN ARNOLD, 

English Poet. 

EXTRACTS FROM " THE EIGHT OF THE WORED." 

Oh, a dear word 
Spoke first to me, and, after me, to all, 
That all may always know that He is the Eord, 
And Death is dead, and new times come for men ; 
And Heaven's ways justified, and Christ alive, 
Whom we saw die, nailed on the cruel Cross ! 
For while I lay there sobbing at his feet 
The word He spake — my Eord ! my King ! my Christ ! 

■* •* -* * -* * -X-.-* -X- * 

On that, the Priests, 
The Sanhedrim, the Judgment — (what she told 
Heretofore unto Pilate) ; Pilate's wrath ; 
The scourge ; the mocking purple cloak ; the crown 
Jewelled with blood ; the path to Golgotha ; 
The cruel Cross ; (Oh, Tree, which made its wood, 
Who planted thee ? Did birds nest in thy boughs 
And sunshine light thy leaves ? ) The cruel Cross ; 
The savage nails ; the scroll ; the sponge ; 
The cty, "Eloi, lama sabacthani ! " — then 
His death-word, " It is finished ! " and the death ; 
And spear-blade deep into His dead side plunged, 
And the Centurion crying, " Verily, 
This was the Son of God ! " 



TIMOTHY SHAY ARTHUR, 

Story-Writer. (1809-1885 ) 

,HE Bible is the Word of God, or divine truth, and 
therefore that must be the basis of religion. 

In the "fullness of time," when man was just 
about extinguishing in him every good that he had 
received at his creation, and on the eve of perishing in con- 
sequence, the Eord himself — "The Mighty God, the Ever- 
lasting Father, the Prince of Peace " — assumed human nature 
through a woman, and came down in the consciousness of 




20 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

man in his lowest estate of evil, and received on Himself all 
the assaults and temptations of hell, and by His own divine 
power conquered the evil, and remanded the spirits of dark- 
ness to their own gloomy abodes. Thus He became able to 
save man, assuming a body of flesh and blood ; and coming 
even to the low perceptions of his senses, He could thus 
take hold of something in him, and lift him out of the deep 
into which he had fallen. He could save man in tempta- 
tion, for He had been tempted himself in every point, but 
without sin. The redemption He wrought was perfect ; for 
in the fallen nature He had assumed through a human 
mother was the form of every evil that had ruled in the 
breast of man since the fall. — Pages 194 and 155, "Arthur's 
Advice to Young Men" by T. S. Arthur, author of "Ten 
Nights in a Bar Room" 




FREDERICK M. ATWOOD, 

Merchant. 

T t^TY opinion of the Bible is that it is divinely inspired, 
- ^rX an d is our only authoritative informant as to what 
( - : ^f^ awaits us after this life. Its fulfilled prophesies, 
knowledge anticipating the deduction of all scien- 
tific researches, prove its matchless character. I accept it 
as a God-given boon to our race, and so it " must follow as 
the night the day" that to me Christ is the only begotten 
Son of God, the Saviour of a perverse humanity. I believe 
if His teachings are universally received we should have 
heaven on earth. Police and courts of justice, prisons and 
lunatic asylums, armies and navies, and all the demoniac 
trades of mankind would be done away with, while peace 
and joy would abound on every side ; but these conditions, 
I fear, will never be until " He shall come, whose right it is 
to reign." 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 21 

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, 

German Musical Composer. (1685-1750.) 

N reference to his cantata, "Jesus, meine Freude," 
his biographer says : "In these he discourses with the 
fervency of faith on the importance of Christ's atoning 
work. The congregational feeling infused into these 
subjects, as being appropriate to their general dogmatic pur- 
port, is pointedly applied to the Christian life by the inter- 
vening verse ; and thus the germ of Protestant Christianity 
is embodied in this great work With keen dog- 
matic certainty he confines the deepest devotion to Christ. 

" Bach's knowledge of the Bible, as shown by his church 
cantatas, was evidently as extensive as his acquaintance with 
hymns. We see from his owning " Bunting's Itiner avium 
Sacvcz Scripture " that he must have tried to realize Bible 
history as vividly and as picturesquely as possible. . . . 
Judge as we may the scientific value of such a work, it is at 
any rate an evidence that Bach did not regard his Bible 
merely as a repertory of texts for lyric verses, or even for 
dogmatic argument, but that he tried to make himself famil- 
iar with it in every sense." — Pages 601 and 267, Volume III, 
"John Sebastian Bach : His Wovk and Influence in the 
Music of Germany" by Philipp Spitta. 



JAMES MONTGOMERY BAILEY, 

Humorist. (1841-1894.) 

REGARD Jesus Christ as the Helper of men, and the 
Redeemer of souls. To me He is a Companion, a 
Helper, and a Saviour. I have unbounded faith in His 
love, mercy, and power. The Bible I believe to be 
the revealed Word of God, and I esteem it with reverence 
and affection. Its promises are my inspiration, and its truths 
a " Lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." 



j 




22 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



FRANCIS BACON, 





Philosopher, and Lord High Chancellor of England. (1561-1626.) 

BELIEVE that 
the Word of God, 
whereby His will is 
revealed, continued 
in revelation and tradi- 
tion with Moses; and 
that the Scriptures were 
from Moses' time to the 
time ot the Apostles and 
Evangelists ; in whose 
ages, after the coming 1 of 
the Holy Ghost, the 
teacher of all truth, the 
book of Scripture was 
shut and closed, so as to 
receive no new addition, and the Church hath no power 
after the Scriptures to teach or command anything' con- 
trary to the written Word. 

I believe that Jesus, the Lord, became in the flesh a 
sacrificer and a sacrifice for sin ; a satisfaction and price 
paid to the justice of God ; a meriter of Glory and the King- 
dom ; a pattern of all righteousness; a preacher of the Word 
which Himself was ; a finisher of the ceremonies ; a corner- 
stone to remove the separation between Jew and Gentile ; 
an intercessor for the Church ; a Lord of nature in His mir- 
acles ; a conqueror of death and the power ot darkness in 
His resurrection ; and that He fulfilled the whole counsel of 
God, performing all His sacred offices, and anointing on earth, 
accomplishing the whole work of the redemption and resti- 
tution of man to a state superior to the angels, whereas the 
state of man by creation was inferior ; and reconciled and 
established all things according to the eternal will of the 
Father. — Pages 154 and 152, Volume II \ "Literary and Re- 
ligious Works of Francis Bacon" 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 23 

JAMES H. BAKER, 

President of the University of Colorado. 

<HE right view of the world is essentially poetic, and 
the truest poetry includes faith and reverence. With- 
out expressing the full extent of my belief, I claim, at 
least, that he is not philosophical who does not 
recognize the profound suggestiveness of the religious senti- 
ment in man, and does not perceive that Christianity is the 
brightest blossom of religious development, and that the 
Bible is the best guide for faith and conduct. 






JOHN BACON, 

English Sculptor. (1740-1799.) 

Y his will he ordered a plain tablet for his grave at 
Tottenham, Court Road Chapel, with this inscription 
after name and date: 

WHAT I WAS AS AN ARTIST, 

SEEMED TO ME OF SOME IMPORTANCE 

WHILE I LIVED ; 

WHAT I REALLY WAS AS A BELIEVER 

IN CHRIST JESUS, 

IS THE ONLY THING OF IMPORTANCE 

TO ME NOW. 

What can I do with respect to the next world without my 
Bible ? I find myself in the midst of system of deep moral 
disorder and perpetual vicissitude. No philosopher offers 
anything that meets, and, much less, relieves, my case. One 
cheering light alone shines into this our moral darkness. It 
shows me the holy law I ought to obey, and declares my 
true character as a transgressor from my birth. 

In such a case dare I venture my soul on conjectures? 



24 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



Its infinite wisdom, holiness, power, and love unite in ap- 
pointing my ransom only through a Saviour on His Cross; 
God forbid that I should glory save in that alone ! There I 
see the perfections of God harmonized, His law magnified, the 
evil of sin exposed. I tremble at the thought of being found 
negligent under a constitution in which God the Father is 
willing to become my Father; God the Son, my Redeemer; 
God the Spirit, my guide, sanctifier, and comfort. — Volume 
III, "Short Biographies for the People" by James Macanlay. 



GEORGE BANCROFT, 

Historian. (1800-1891.) 




^ 



i 



J^URITANISM had 
exalted the laity. 
. . . For him 
the wonderful coun- 
sels of the Almighty had 
appointed a Saviour ; for 
him the laws of nature had 
been compelled and consult- 
ed, the heavens had open- 
ed, the earth had quaked, 
the Sun had veiled his face, 
and Christ had died and 
risen again. — Page 318, 
Volume Z y "History of the 
United States of America" 
by George Bancroft. 
For the regeneration of the world it was requisite that the 
Divine Being should enter the abodes and hearts of men and 
dwell there ; that a belief in Him should be received which 
would include all truth respecting His essence; that He 
should be known, not as a distant Providence of boundless 
power and uncertain and inactive will, but as God present in 
the flesh Amid the deep sorrows of humanity 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 25 

during the sad conflict which was protracted during centuries 
for the overthrow of the past and the reconstruction of so- 
ciety, the consciousness of an incarnate God carried peace 

into the bosom of humanity This doctrine once 

communicated to man, was not to be eradicated. It spread as 
widely, as swiftly, and as silently as the light, and the idea 
of God With Us dwelt and dwells in every system of 
thought that can pretend to vitality ; in every oppressed 
people, whose struggles to be free have the promise of success; 
in every soul that sighs for redemption. — From his address 
on " The Progress of Mankind" pages 502 and 504, " Literary 
and Historical Miscellanies" by George Bancroft. 



•m 



PHINEAS TAYLOR BARNUM, 

CW ;_9 Exhibitor and Philanthropist. (1810-1891.) 

HRIST was sent into the world by our kind Father in 
<^J Heaven to teach that "God is love"; that love is 
the fulfilling of the law ; and turn us away from our 
transgressions by showing us that the "way of the 
transgressor is hard," and always will be hard as long as we 
transgress; but charity, unselfishness, and a godly life is filled 
with joy and peace — that at the last the Almighty Father, 
being Almighty, and being our Father, will bring about im- 
mediate harmony. 

The old Bible I believe to be as correct a history as could 
have been formed in remote ages — containing accounts of 
various lives and experiences by which we ought to profit. 
The New Testament abounds in testimony of the undying 
love of our Saviour for all, and especially for the poor, the 
unfortunate, and the erring. His mission was to teach them, 
and to save them from their sins by reconciling them to 
their Heavenly Father, and not reconciling Him to His 
created beings, for He was never unreconciled. 



Cc^c^c^t^i 




xjV) 



26 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

DANIEL PRATT BALDWIN, 

Lawyer; late Attorney-General of Indiana. 

"ESUS CHRIST hath brought Life and Immortality 
to light through the Gospel." He taught Life and 
Qi^L Light through His doctrine of self-sacrifice and love, 
which He made, on the human side, the corner-stone 
of His religion ; and Immortality through His resurrection 
from the dead, which was His crowning miracle. Without 
the Resurrection, the future life is only a dreary perhaps. 
No right-minded man, not even a so-called sceptic, can 
deny the immense indebtedness of humanity to Him, or His 
supreme title to the sweetest words tongue ever uttered — 
"Our Saviour!" 



NEWTON BATEMAN : 

Late President of Knox College. 






HAVE been engaged in educational work nearly all 
my life. I am personally acquainted with hundreds 
of teachers, and can say that the greatest of them are 
earnest Christians. The supreme end of education is 
the development of the noblest, purest, and manliest charac- 
ter, which is impossible without Christian ideas and forces. 
History confirms the conclusions of my individual experi- 
ence and observation. In all the Christian centuries the 
world's greatest thinkers, benefactors, and leaders have been 
great believers in Christ as a Saviour, and in the Bible as 
the Word of God. Eliminate the Christian element from 
our colleges, and their strength and glory are gone. 




REPRESENTATIVE MEN, 



Wendell Phillips, 

Page j 60. 

James G. Blaine, Henry M. Stanley, 

Page 34. Page 422. 

Lord Shaftesbury, 

Page 99 . 

James Russell Lowell, John A. Logan, 

Page 294. Page 290. 

Major- General Gordon, 

Page i/6. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 2 J 

ALFRED SMITH BARNES, 

Publisher and Philanthropist. (1817-1888.) 

N the beginning God created all things for His own 
pleasure. He created man after His own image, but 
through him came disobedience and sin, of which the 
penalty was death. Then in divine compensation 
came the promise of salvation through the Messiah who should 
come, which promise illuminates the pages of the Old Testa- 
ment with hope and joy from Moses to Malachi. The Proph- 
et Isaiah said, "Therefore saith the Lord God: Behold I 
lay in Zion for a foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious 
corner-stone, a sure foundation." When to the shepherds on 
the plains of Bethlehem the glory of the Lord shone round 
about them, and a multitude of the heavenly host sang 
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will 
toward men," the prophecies were fulfilled, the corner-stone 
was laid on earth. 

{Signed by his own hand), A. S. Barnes. 
October 26, 1887. 
— Extract of his address delivered at the laying of the corner- 
stone of *" Barnes Hall" Cornell University. 



WILLIAM AUGUSTUS BEACH, 

Lawyer. (1809-1884.) 

E was her accepted and chosen guide. She looked 
upon him with a veneration second only to that with 
which she regarded her God. Nay, if the incarnate 
Christ had come down, with the glory of Calvary 
upon His brow, and the love of sacrifice in His eye, she 
could not have bowed to him with more obedient and idol- 
atrous deference than this woman rendered to her Pastor. — 
From one of his famous pleas. See page 40, " Distiiiguished 
American Lawyers" by Heiiry W. Scott. 




28 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

BERNARD BARTON, 

English Poet. (1784-1849.) 
cvp^ THE BIBEE. 

F -"SAMP of our feet, whereby we trace 
Q l)/ Our path when wont to stray ; 
Tj^Stream from the fountain of heavenly grace, 
Brook by the traveler's way. 

Word of the ever-living God; 

Will of His glorious Son ; 
Without thee how could earth be trod, 

Or heaven itself be won? 

Yet, to unfold thy hidden worth, 

Thy mysteries to reveal, 
That Spirit which first gave thee forth 

Thy Volume must unseal. 



SIR JOHN BAYLEY. 

English Judge and Author. (1763-1841 ) 

AVID lived about one thousand years before our 
Saviour, and the Psalms are more ancient than the 
writings of any classic now extant. Homer, one of 
the earliest classic writers, wrote about eight hundred 
and forty years before the birth of Christ, and above one 
hundred years after the death of Solomon, the son of David. 
— " Sir John Bayley^s Book of Common Prayer" page 239. 




JAMES BURNIE BECK, 

^ c 'fK United States Senator. (1822-1890.) 

OMETIMES we public men get worldly, and, perhaps, 
do not attend to our religious duties as we ought, 
but still we know the Bible is true, and that the only 
hope of the world is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 1 
was brought up under Henry Duncan, of Scotland, and felt 
the power of his ministry, and have felt it all the way 
through. — In conversation with a fellow congressman a few 
days before death. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



LUDWIG BEETHOVEN, 

Prussian Musical Composer. (1770-1827.) 





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"~- : ;5tP" B^wB 


i 


that ye love one 
another as I have 


Sis 






"k 




HH 


loved you." — 
"Franklin Square 
Song Collection" 








Bp^l 


j^^.g.- j|^^--'..--'"'~- : -:" : - 




No friend have 










■SU 






I. I must live by 










||«B1 






myself alone; but I 
know well that God 












is nearer to me 


than 


others 


in rm 


' art, so I will 


walk fearlessly with Him. 


I ha\ 


'e ah\ 


ays known and understood 


Him. — From U A 


•s 


"core 


of 


Musical 


Composers" by 


Nathan Haskell Dole. 



PETER BAYNE, 

Scottish Journalist and Author. 

E see Revelation synchronous with the history of 

Pour planet. The Word in which the redeeming 
Christ is revealed becomes precisely commensu- 
rate with the time in which the creating Christ 
has exhibited on our planet His creative power. The closing 
books of the New Testament tell us of a fire which will in 
later time envelop the world. The first book of the Old 
Testament, read by the light reflected from the works of 



30 A CU)UD OF WITNESSES. 

God, points us to a commencing fire in which the planet, as 
now constituted, had its beginning. From fire to fire spans 
the arch of creation ; from fire to fire spans the arch of Reve- 
lation; Christ the Alpha and the Omega of both. — Page 393, 
" Essays in Biography and Criticism, " by Peter Bayne. 




JAMES BEATTIE, 

Scotch Poet and Writer. (1735-1803.) 



>HHRB is not a book on earth so favorable to all the 
kind, and to all the sublime affections, or so unfriendly 
to hatred and persecution, to tyranny, ijtjustice, and 
every sort of malevolence as the GOSPEL,. It 
breathes nothing throughout but mercy, benevolence, and 
peace. . . . Such of the doctrines of the Gospel as are 
level to human capacity appear to be agreeable to the purest 
truth and soundest morality. All the genius and learning of 
the heathen world, all the penetration of Pythagoras, Soc- 
rates, and Aristotle, had never been able to produce such a 
system of moral duty, and so rational an account of Provi- 
dence and of man, as is to be found in the New Testament. 
— Page 70, "Allibone's Prose Quotations." 




SIR RISDON BENNETT, 

President of the Royal Society of Physicians (1876-1891,) (1809-1891.) 

^T has been truly said that " the real evidence of 
Christianity is in its power." And how can we look 
round the world and fail to see proof of this power 
wherever the Gospel is known, among all races of 
mankind, all classes of society, all ranks of intellect. What 
is there comparable to the religion of Jesus Christ in pro- 
moting the happiness and welfare of mankind? The full 
influence of its power, even as regards the present life, we 
have indeed yet to see ; and we can but faintly appreciate 
the inestimable light as shed on the life to come, the full 
glory of which has yet to be revealed. — Pages 41 and 42, 
"Report of the Christian Evidence Society, 1890." 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 3 1 

SIR CHARLES BELL, 

British Anatomist and Physiologist. (1774-1842.; 

iV viewing the Face Reversed. — In compassionating a 

fellow creature it is not natural to look on the face 

[§$? reversed. Yet I have seen in a modern picture a 

soldier regarding his wounded comrade, dessus dessous, 
the mouth to the forehead, the eye to the mouth. The im- 
mediate effect was a want of sympathy — of proper feeling. 
Even the nurse turns her head in correspondence with the 
face of the infant. Is the same not meant by the Psalmist, 
" My heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek " ? 
Thus, in looking on a picture of our Saviour, dead, lying on 
the knees of the Madonna, she turns her head nearly paral- 
lel with that of our Redeemer, which produces grace and 
tenderness. — Page 121, "Art Suggestions from the Masters" 
compiled by Susan N. Carter. 



JEREMIAH SULLIVAN BLACK, 

Lawyer; United States Attorney-General under President 
<^o Buchanan. (1810-1883.) 

jGyAy ^ a matter °f f act > Jesus Christ died that sinners 

\lqjl might be reconciled to God, and in that sense He 

°i fc)° died for them ; that is, to furnish them with the 

means of averting Divine justice, which their 

crimes had provoked. 

A man who, by any contrivance, causes his own offense to 
be visited on the head of an innocent person is unspeak- 
ably depraved. But are Christians guilty of this baseness, 
because they accept the blessings of an institution which 
their great Benefactor died to establish? Loyalty to the 
King who erected a most magnificent government for us at 
the cost of His life — fidelity to the Master who bought us 
with His blood — is not the fraudulent substitution in place 
of the criminal. — See "The Claims of the Christian Relig- 
ion," by Judge Black, in "North American Review" of Au- 
gust, 1 88 1. 



32 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



JEAN BAPTISTE LE MOYNE BIENVILLE, 

Colonial Governor of Louisiana, and Founder of New Orleans. 
(1680-1768.) 

s N the name of the Father, etc. Persuaded, as I am, of 
the necessity of death, and the uncertainty of the hour, 
I wish, before it arrives, to put my affairs in order. 
First, I consign my soul to God. ... I implore 
the mercy of God and of Jesus Christ, my Saviour. — From 
his Will. See page 325 of u fean Baptiste Le Moyne, Setter 
de Bienville" in " Makers of America " series, by Grace King. 



OTTO EDUARD LEOPOLD BISMARCK, 





Prussian Chancellor. 

J, r 

OULD to God 

that, apart from 

what is known 

in the world, I 

had no other sins upon 

my soul, for which I only 

hope to be forgiven by 

trusting in the blood of 

Christ. 

I know not whence I 
should derive my sense of 
duty if not from God. Or- 
ders and titles have no charm for me ; I firmly believe in 
a life after death. ... To my steadfast faith alone do I 
owe the power of resisting all manner of absurdities which 
I have seen displayed throughout the past ten years. De- 
prive me of my faith, and you rob me of my Fatherland. 
Were I not a stanch Christian, did I not stand upon the 
miraculous basis of religion, you would never have pos- 
sessed a Federal Chancellor in my person. — Pages 351 and 
353) Volume II, of "Prince Bismarck: an Historical Biog- 
raphy" by Charles Lowe. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 33 

JOHN STUART BLACKIE, 

Professor of Greek, University of Edinburg ; Scotch Poet and Author. 

AM of opinion that in Christ Jesns there is presented 
to the intelligent eye the most perfect picture of a 
Divine life in human shape that earth can conceive, 
and that the Holy Bible is a Book, or more properly 
a collection of Books, with a common inspiration, which, if 
studied with spiritual sympathy and historical discrimina- 
tion, will approve itself the surest guide to a noble, happy, 
and useful life. 





SIR WILLIAM BLACKSTONE, 

English Jurist and Author of " Commentaries." (1723-1780.) 

*0 deny the possibility, nay, actual existence, of witch- 
craft and sorcery, is at once to contradict the revealed 
Word of God in various passages both of the Old and 
New Testament. 
The preservation of Christianity as a national religion is 
abstracted from its own intrinsic truth, of the utmost conse- 
quence to the civil state, which a single instance will suf- 
ficiently demonstrate. The belief of a future state of re- 
wards and punishments, the entertaining just ideas of the 
main attributes of the Supreme Being, and a firm persuasion 
that He superintends and will finally compensate every ac- 
tion in human life (all which are revealed in the doctrines 
of our Saviour, Christ), these are the grand foundations of all 
judicial oaths, which call God to witness the truth of those 
facts which perhaps may be only known to Him and the party 
attesting ; all moral evidences, therefore, all confidence in 
human veracity, must be weakened by apostacy, and over- 
thrown by total infidelity. Wherefore, all affronts to Chris- 
tianity, or endeavors to depreciate its efficacy, in those who 
have once professed it, are highly deserving of censure. — 
Pages 59 and 43, " WendeWs Blacks tone's Commentaries," 
Volume IV. 



34 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

A. BERJMSTORFF, 

German Count. 

FOR myself, declare that I am here as an indvidual 
evangelical Christian, and that I should never have 
set my foot in this Parliament if I thought that it sig- 
nified anything like a consent that all religions are 
equal, and that it is only necessary to be sincere and upright. 
I believe only the Bible to be true, and Protestant Chris- 
tianity the only true religion. I wish no compromise of any 
kind. . . . We Christians are servants of our Master, the 
living Saviour. We have no right to compromise the truth 
He intrusted to us. — Page 93, Volume J " The Worlds Par- 
liament of Religions" edited by Rev. John Henry Barrows. 




JAMES GILLESPIE BLAINE, 

Twenty Years in Congress, Speaker of the House, and Secretary of State 
under Presidents Garfield and Harrison. (1830-1893.) 

* O proverb ever supplanted the patience of Job or 
the wisdom of Solomon. . . . Moses has never 
been surpassed in statesmanship. 

A scientific theology is pointing out the foot- 
prints of the Creator to common sense. The brotherhood of 
man, the Fatherhood of God, is becoming the corner-stone 
of religion, as revealed in Christ, and as clearly traced in 
human history. — " Columbus and Columbia: a Pictorial His- 
tory of the Man and the Nation" by Hon. James G. Blaine, 
J. IV. Buel, ProJ. John Ridpath, and Hon. Benjamm Butter- 
worth. 

A gentleman of national reputation, and a resident at 
Washington for years, who was present at different times 
during the fatal illness of Mr. Blaine, and who had numer- 
ous religious conversations with him then, wrote the com- 
piler this statement: "Mr. Blaine died in the triumphs of 
the Christian faith. His uniform tone was that of a devout 
believer in the Lord Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour." 





FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 



BEHOLD, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise 
and take the young child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou 
there until I bring thee word; for Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him. 
When he arose, he took the young child and His mother by night, and departed into 
Egypt. — Matthew ii, 13-14. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



35 



The Washington correspondent of the New Record, Chi- 
cago, thns describes the closing scene of Mr. Blaine's life: 
"Mrs. Blaine, her eyes meeting the last fixed gaze of her 
dying hnsband, leaned over the bedside and whispered a 
question. . . . There was immediate response. . . . 
The right arm, after a second's struggle, rose, . . . the 
white, almost pulseless hand closed, with the index finger 
extended. It pointed to Heaven, and the yes gave the 
answer to the question of the wife. Thus with hand out- 
stretched toward Heaven, . . . James G. Blaine passed 
away." 

JAMES ROBINSON BOISE, 

Professor of Greek in the University of Michigan, 1852-1868, and later in the 
Q^ ; c) University of Chicago ; Author of Greek Text-Books. 

HRIST and the Bible!" What two words are more 
d/ important and signify more to every human soul ? I 
know of none. 

I was engaged for more than thirty years in teach- 
ing the Latin and Greek classics. I also edited portions of 
Homer, Heroditus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Plato, and De- 
mosthenes. I have now for fifteen years been engaged in 
studying and teaching the Greek New Testament. And 
what is the result ? I have almost lost my fondness for the 
classic authors. They seem to me so deficient in those spir- 
itual truths which the human soul so much needs in this 
mortal life. Compared with the doctrines of the New Testa- 
ment, they seem to me as chaff compared to the wheat. 
Beautiful chaff it may be, in the light of the sun, but they 
have nothing to nourish and satisfy the soul; whereas, the 
more one meditates on the inspired truths of the Bible, the 
more the spiritual nature, the God-like in man, grows, ex- 
pands, is lifted up and strengthened. Experience alone con- 
firms the truths of these statements to the human heart. 

In the love of the Saviour, and in the faith once delivered 
to the saints, I remain, -—> — > 




36 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

SIR S. A. BLACKWOOD, 

English Statesman. 

E have gone to the heathen in certain lands with 
the Bible in one hand and the ram-bottle in an- 
other. What can be thought of the character of 
a Christianity that thus presented itself to them? 
. How can we wonder that in India they have laughed 
at our Christianity, and cast contempt upon the name of our 
Lord Jesus Christ? It is our business to lift up our voices, 
and with bated breath, and no indistinct utterance, to declare 
that on the ground of every obligation that we owe to Him 
who has redeemed us by His precious blood, so far as lies in 
our power, so far as our protests, so far as our prayers can 
stay these deadly evils, they shall, by God's help, be impos- 
sible for the future. — Page 470, Volume f, " Report of the 
Missionary Confere7ice, London, 1888." 




JOHANN KASPER BLUNTSCHLI, 

German Jurist. (1808-1881.) 

HE limits of the freedom of teaching are not pre- 
scribed by the letter of Scripture, but a fundamental 
requirement of Protestantism is free inquiry in and 
about the Scriptures. The attempt to limit the free- 
dom of theological inquiry and teaching in the universities 
is a violation of the vital principles of Protestantism. Only 
such conceptions of the Person of Jesus can satisfy the relig- 
ious necessities of this age as fully recognize the idea of His 
humanity and place in history. The higher reason only has 
unconditional authority, and the Bible must justify itself be- 
fore its tribunal; we find the history of Divine revelation 
and its fulfillment in the Bible alone, and reason bids us to 
regard the Bible as the only authority and canon in matters 
of religious belief. — Page 825, Volume XIX, of" The Encyclo- 
pedia Brittanica . ' ' 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 37 

JAKOB BOHME, 

German Mystic Philosopher. (1575-1624.) 

OW the Scripture witnesses throughout, and new- 
born man finds it so, that it is quite otherwise, and 
contrary to what it was before. It finds itself very 
humble, meek, courteous, and pleasant; it readily 
bears all manner of crosses and persecutions ; it turns the out- 
ward body from out of the way of the wicked ; it regards no 
reproach, disgrace, or scorn put upon it by the devil or man ; it 
places its confidence, refuge, and love in the Son of God, it is 
fed by the Word of God, and can not be touched by the devil; 
for although it is in its own substance, and stands in the first 
principle in the indissoluble bond, it is enlightened with the 
light of God in the Son, and the Holy Ghost. — From his es- 
say : " The Third Principle ; or Creation of the Material 
World, with the Stars and Elements." 



HERMANN BOERHAAVE, 

Dutch Physician and Philosopher. (1668-1738.) 

AM persuaded that the Scriptures, as recorded in 
their original, did alone instruct us in the way of 
salvation and afford tranquillity to the mind with obe- 
dience to Christ's precepts and example; in particular, 
that precept confirming the law of Moses which respects the 
love of God and our neighbor. 

This maxim, however, I wish to abide by, living or dying : 
That only is the best, and alone to be desired, which is per- 
fectly agreeable both to the Divine goodness and majesty. 
Many who make the greatest profession of Christ's doctrine 
pay little deference to His example recommended in one of 
his precepts: "Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in 
heart." — Page 51, Section III, " Account of the Life of Doctor 
Hermann Boerhaave" by Burton. 




38 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, 

Emperor of the French. (1769-1821.) 

^HE Bible is more 

than a Book; it is 

a living being, with 

an action, a power 
which invades everything 
that opposes its extension. 
Behold it upon this table, 
this Book surpassing all 
others; I never omit to 
read it, and every day with 
new pleasure. 

Everything in Christ as- 
tonishes me. His spirit 
overawes me, and His will 
confounds me. Between 
Him and whoever else in the world there is no possible 
term of comparison ; He is truly a Being by Himself. His 
ideas and His sentiments, the truth which He announces, 
His manner of convincing, are not explained either by 
human organization or by the nature of things. 

Truth should embrace the universe. Such is Christianity, 
the only religion which destroys sectional prejudices, the 
only one which proclaims the unity and the absolute brother- 
hood of the whole human family, the only one which is 
purely spiritual; in fine, the only one which assigns to all, 
without distinction, for a true country, the bosom of the 
Creator, God. Christ proved that He was the Son of the 
Eternal by His disregard of time. All His doctrines signify 
one only and the same thing — eternity. What a proof of the 
divinity of Christ! With an empire so absolute, He has but 
one single end — the spiritual melioration of individuals, the 
purity of the conscience. — Chapter XXXIII, Volume II, of 
" The History of Napoleon Bonaparte" by fohn S. C. Abbott. 
(Canon Liddon, in his B amp ton Lectures, page 148, names 











W^=^iB§ifflgfflB 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 39 

these authorities: Luthardt, Apologetische Vortrage, pages 
234, 293; M. Auguste Nicholas, Etudes Philosophique sur le 
Chris tianisme, Bruxelles, 1849, iom H-> pages 352, 256; 
Chevalier de Beauterne, Sentiment de Napoleoji sur le Chris- 
tianisme, edit, par M. Bathild Bouniol, Paris, 1864, pages 87, 
118.) 

JUNIUS BRUTUS BOOTH, 

C\ r> n Tragedian. (1796-1852.) 

^ Vx^OU are right; to read that prayer (the Lord's Prayer) 
-X] as it should be read, cost me the severest study 
1 ^5 and labor for thirty years, and I am far from sat- 
isfied with my rendering of that wonderful produc- 
tion. Hardly one person in a thousand comprehends how 
much beauty, tenderness, and grandeur can be condensed in 
a space so simple. The prayer itself sufficiently il- 
lustrates THE TRUTH OF THE BlBLE, AND STAMPS UPON 
IT THE SEAL OF Divinity. — From " The Life of Elihu Bur- 
ritt" by Charles Northend. 



CHARLES BONNET, 

Swiss Naturalist and Philosopher. (1720-170,3.) 

THEREFORE open this Book— the Old Testament— 
which to this day is held forth as authentic and di- 
vine by the descendants, in a direct line, of those 
men who crucified the Messenger of Heaven and per- 
secuted His ministers and first disciples. I peruse the Book, 
and meet with a passage in it — Isa. liii. — which excites in 
me the greatest astonishment. I think I am reading an an- 
ticipated and circumstantial history of Christ ; I discover all 
the features of His character, and the principal particulars of 
His life ; in a word, I think I am reading the very evidence 
of the witnesses themselves. 

By this bringing together and comparing the external (the 



40 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

proofs which the miracles and prophecies, the character of 
our Saviour, and that of His disciples, exhibit, are called the 
external proofs) and internal proofs of Christianity, this im- 
portant consequence results to my mind : that there exists no 
ancient history as well attested as that of Christ ; that there 
are no historical facts established on so great a number of 
proofs ; no proofs so solid, so striking, and so various, as 
those on which the religion of the divine Messenger is 
founded. — " Philosophical and Critical Inquiries Concerning 
Christianity" by Charles Bonnet, of Geneva, Member of the 
Royal Academy of Paris. 




V1NCENZO BOTTA, 

Author, and Professor of Italian Literature in the University 
of the City of New York. 

HE power of the Roman Emperors extended over the 
body and soul of the subject, but Christianity ap- 
peared to set free the Divine element of the human 
mind, and to assert its natural sovereignty. Religion 
and science, two branches from the same root, were thus 
made free by the mission of the Redeemer, and the state has 
no more power over the one than the other. There are 
moral elements in the nature of man which were particularly 
developed by the Gospel, and without which no society can 
flourish. — Page 78, U A Discourse on the Life, Character, and 
Policy of Count Cavour" by Vincenzo Botta. 




PAUL BOURGET, 

French Novelist. 



^OR many years I, like most young men in modern 
cities, was content to drift along in agnosticism, but I 
was brought to my senses at last by the growing 
realization that there is in this life such a thing as 
responsibility for the influence upon others. I saw that the 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 41 

life of the man who simply said "I don't know, and not 
knowing, I do the thing that pleases me," was not only empty 
in itself, and full of disappointment and suffering, but was a 
positive influence for evil upon the lives of others. Since 
then my belief has grown firmer in the Christian system for 
practical happiness in this world. — The Herald, New York, 
August 13, 1893. 




FRANCIS BOWEN, 

Educator and Author. 



HAVE faithfully studied most of what philosophy of 
these modern times and the science of the day assume 
to teach, and the result is that I am now more firmly 
convinced than ever, that what has been justly called 
the "dirt philosophy" of materialism and fatalism is baseless 
and false. I accept with unhesitating conviction and belief 
the doctrine of the being of one personal God, the Creator 
and Governor of the world, and of one Lord Jesus Christ, in 
whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily ; and I 
have found nothing whatever in the literature of modern 
infidelity which, to my mind, casts even the slightest doubt 
upon that belief. Not being a clergyman, I am not exposed 
to the cruel imputation, which unbelievers have too long been 
permitted to fling against the clergy, of being induced by 
prudential motives to profess what they do not believe. Let 
me also be permitted to repeat the opinion, which I ventured 
to express as far back as 1849, tnat tne ^ me seems to have 
arrived for a more practical and immediate verification, than 
the world has ever yet witnessed, of the great truth that the 
civilization which is not based upon Christianity is big with 
the elements of its own destruction. — Closing paragraph in 
the preface to "Modern Philosophy" by Francis Bowen, Alford 
Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil 
Polity in Harvard College. 



42 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

SIR JOHN BOWRING, 

English Poet, Statesman and Linguist. (1792-1872.) 




THE GOSPEL PROCLAIMED. 

OW sweetly flowed the Gospel sound, 
From lips of gentleness and grace, 

When listening thousands gathered round, 
And joy and gladness filled the place. 

From Heaven He came, of Heaven He spoke, 
To Heaven He led His followers' way ; 

Dark clouds of gloomy night He broke, 
Unveiling an immortal day. 

Decay, then, tenements of dust ; 

Pillars of earthly pride, decay ; 
A nobler mansion waits the just, 

And Jesus has prepared the way. 



CHARLES CARROLL BONNEY, 

Lawyer; President of World's Congress Auxilliary 

F all the leaders the world has ever known could be 
convened in one grand assembly, and the utmost 
merits of each proclaimed and admitted; if Jesus 
Christ should then stand forth in the midst, not one 
would contest His supremacy, but all, with one accord, 
would bow the head in His Divine presence, and feel honored 
by acknowledging Him "King of kings, and Lord of lords." 
If all the books in the world could be assembled in one 
great convention to choose a king, and the crown were to be 
awarded to that one which had been printed in the largest 
number of languages, and has exercised the most potent and 
far-reaching influence for the elevation and enlightenment of 
mankind, the Holy Bible — the Book Divine — would have no 
real competitor, but would be chosen by acclamation. 



C4lA>^£&<L d , ^CrwrUZy* 




JESUS IN THE TEMPLE. 



THE child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and His mother knew not 
of it . . . And when they found Him not, they turned back again to 
Jerusalem, seeking Him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found Him 
in the temple ... in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking 
them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and 
answers. — Luke ii, 43-47. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 43 

HJALMAR HJORTH BOYESEN, 

Professor of German at Columbia College, and Author. 

.HERE is a vast field here for the Christian mis- 
sionary; for our social order rests upon Christianity 
as a basis, and can only be maintained by faith in 
revealed religion. If Christianity ceases to be a power 
in the land, if the fear and the love of God cease to be re- 
straining influences in the minds of men, our present social 
order is surely doomed. . . . It is therefore a sign of the 
utmost significance when the Christian Churches throughout 
our land become aroused to the necessity of grappling with 
these great and vital problems. They are not in themselves 
insoluble ; but they require for their solution all the patriot- 
ism, the earnestness and self-devotion which are found in 
the Church of Jesus Christ. It is in this sign, and in this 
alone, that we shall conquer. — From his address on Immigra- 
tion, delivered at the Evangelical Alliance, Washington, D. C, 
December, 1887/ extracted from pages 68 and 74 of "National 
Perils and Opportunities." 



ROBERT BOYLE, 

Irish Chemist and Philosopher. (1626-1691.) 

,UR Saviour would love at no less rate than death ; and 

from the supereminent height of glory, stooped and 

I k^ debased Himself to the sufferance of the extremest of 
QJ 

indignities, and sunk himself to the bottom of abject- 

ness, to exalt our condition to the contrary extreme. — Page 

104, (< Allibone } s Quotations." 

The Books of Scripture illustrate and expound each other; 

as in the mariner's compass, the needle's extremity, though 

it seems to point purposely to the north, doth yet at the 

same time discover both east and west, as distant as they 

are from it and each other, so do some texts of Scripture 



44 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

guide us to the intelligence of others, for which they are 
widely distant in the Bible. 

We should carefully distinguish betwixt what the Scripture 
itself says and what is only said in the Scripture. For we 
must not look upon the Bible as an oration of God to men, 
or as a body of laws; . . . but as a collection of com- 
posures of very different sorts, and written at very distant 
times; and of such composures that, though holy men of 
God — as Peter calls them — were actuated by the Holy Spirit, 
who both excited and assisted them in penning the Scrip- 
ture, yet there are many others besides the Author and the 
penman, introduced speaking there. — "Some Considerations 
Touching the Style of the Holy Scriptures" by Robert Boyle, 




LUTHER BRAD1SH, 

Statesman. (1783-1863.) 

HEREVER the Bible has gone, it has carried with 
it juster notions of individual rights and sounder 
views of the true end and object of government. 
It has exerted a great and benign influence upon 
the enactment of laws and their execution. . . Equally 
great and salutary has been the influence of the Bible upon 
the mental labors and the intellectual condition of man in all 
ages and in all countries. It has chastened his imagination 
and invigorated his judgment. It has purified literature, 
elevated philosophy, directed science to its true ends and 
aims, and thus effectually contributed to the advancement of 
civilization and amelioration of the world. All this has the 
Bible accomplished for man in regard to this life. But this 
precious revelation of God to man is not limited to his brief 
existence here. It has a far higher aim, and was destined to 
achieve for him a far greater and more enduring good in ref- 
erence to that which is to come. — " Testimony to the Value of 
the Sacred Scriptures," by the American Bible Society. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 45 

WILLIAM M. BRADSHEAR, 

President of Iowa State College. 

HE Holy Bible is the revelation of God in history, in 
redemption, and the compendium of all ethics. It 
is the fountain of law and literature. It is the chart 
and compass of man in a shoreless world that keeps 
him near the pole-star of eternal truth. 

Jesus Christ is more than any other in history, because He 
presents the universal elements of humanity as distinguished 
from individual peculiarities. He presents a complete 
human nature in moral and spiritual attributes. The four 
lives of Christ, as recorded by the four Evangelists, are ex- 
plainable only as being historically true. The beneficent 
power of His life and death over the subsequent history of 
mankind is an unimpeachable proof of His divine humanity. 

THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD BRASSEY, 

English Statesman. 

WAS glad to notice in the prayer just offered, that we 
give thanks to our Heavenly Father in the name of 
Jesus Christ, our Lord, for the work which is done, 
not only by this society, but by kindred societies. I 
have been on board the storm-tossed vessel in which a good 
Bishop of the Anglican Church was engaged in carrying the 
Gospel to the distant ice-bound shores of Labrador; I have 
been in the stormy waters of the Straits of Magellan, and 
have seen at what sacrifice, and by what efforts, the Gospel 
is carried to the savage people of Terra del Fuego ; I have 
seen the devoted missionaries who are sent by the L'nited 
States at their work in Beyrout and Lahore. . . . I do 
not question the melancholy fact that there are masses of 
people in our midst who do not hear the good news of salva- 



46 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

tion ; but I fear, in too many instances, those of our people 
who do not hear the Gospel do not hear it because they do 
not avail themselves of the opportunities which are in exist- 
ence. — From a speech at Exeter Hall, May, 1888, before the 
Lo7idon Missionary Society. 



DAVID JOSIAH BREWER, 

Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. 

BELIEVE in Jesus Christ as the great Helper, Com- 
forter and Saviour of humanity, and the Holy Bible 
as bearing to us the story of his mission, the rules of 
duty, the revelation of Eternal Life, and also the 
conditions under which the attainment of that life are possi- 
ble. No Book contains more truths, or is more worthy of 
confidence than the Bible ; none brings more joy to the sor- 
rowing, more strength to the weak, or more stimulus to the 
nobly ambitious ; none makes life sweeter, or death easier or 
less sad. 



x4U^W^KR^*^ 



SIR DAVID BREWSTER, 

Scottish Physicist. (1781-1868.) 

SHALL see Jesus, and that will be grand ! . . . 
What should I have done now, had I tried to find a 
Saviour at this time ? 

Oh, is it not sad that all are not contented with 
the beautiful simple plan of salvation — Jesus Christ only — 
who has done so much for us. " Notwithstanding his tal- 
ents ! " That disgusts me: merit for a man to bow his intel- 
lect to the Cross ! Why, what can the highest intellect on 
earth do but bow to God's Word and God's mind thankfully? 
When I find a doctrine plainly stated in the Bible, that is 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 47 

enough, God knows. I can depend on God's Word. We 
should not expect in this world to be free from things ob- 
scure to us, and beyond our ability to explain. ... To 
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is to live ; I trust Him and 
enjoy His peace. — James Macaulay in Volume II of "Short 
Biographies for the People." 




F. C. BRIDGEMAN, 

Member of Parliament; British General. 

^foJTAY I venture to give you an example of God's 
^jrL answer to an impious prophecy? In the middle 
^-fv^? of the last century, Voltaire, perhaps the greatest 
of atheistic writers, prophesied that within a 
hundred years the Bible would be an unknown Book, or, if 
it existed at all, it would exist in the museum of some col- 
lector, who would point to it as a monument of the folly and 
superstition of our ancestors. Well, more than a hundred 
years have rolled away, and the very room in which that 
prophecy was written is now one of the depots of the Brit- 
ish and Foreign Bible Society in France, from which the 
Scriptures are distributed to every town and hamlet in the 
country. 

As a soldier I bear testimony to the very valuable work 
that is being done by this Society, not only in the English 
army, but in the armies all over Europe. At the close of 
the war between France and Germany, in 187 1, the late 
Emperor of Germany wrote a letter to the agent of your 
Society, thanking him for the splendid work that had been 
done in the German army during the terrible conflict. A 
few days ago a friend of mine, an officer in the Royal Ar- 
tillery, was walking down the Wilhelmstrasse, in Berlin, 
where your depot is situated ; in the window was a bust of 
the late Emperor, and under it this very letter, with a Bible 
open to show his favorite text. — From a speech at the eighty- 
fourth anniversary of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 




48 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

GEORGE NIXON BRIGGS, 

Governor of Massachusetts, 1843-1851 ; Congressman Six Successive 
Terms; and Philanthropist. (1796-1861.) 

OXJ go to an embassy compared with which all the 
embassies of men dwindle into insignificance. Yon 
go forth as ambassadors of Christ. Yon go to 
crumble idols — to convey light to benighted minds 
— to kindle love to God in the souls of ungodly men. Who 
can overestimate the qualifications necessary for such work ? 
The fervent, effectual prayer shall ascend to the mercy seat for 
you. You shall never see the day when your brethren who 
sent you out shall turn their backs on you ; but look higher, 
— the Saviour has told you, " Lo, I am with you alway, even 
unto the end of the world." The Almighty Friend will al- 
ways be at your side to sustain you. — Addressed to mission- 
aries, Buffalo, May, 1850, while President of the American 
Baptist Missionary Union. 




JOHN BRIGHT, 

English Orator and Statesman, (1811-1889.) 

>HERE is nothing that is going to give such stability 
to this government as the religious instruction of our 
children in the Protestant Sunday-schools of this 
realm ; and I have read all about them in your 
country, and your people are going to be safe if you only 
stand by your Sunday-school men and train up your children 
in the ways of the Lord. — Addressed to General Clinton B. 
Bisk. 

Why is it that there has been a combination of all religious 
and Christian teachers of the country with the view of teach- 
ing the people what is true, what is Christian, upon this sub- 
ject? I believe it has been within the power of the Churches 
to do far more than statesmen can do in matters of this kind. 
I believe that they might so bring this question home to the 
hearts and consciences of the Christian and good men of 
their congregations that a great combination of public opin- 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 49 

ion might be created which will wholly change the aspect 
of this question in this country and before the world, and 
would bring to the minds of statesmen that they are not the 
rulers of the colonists of Greece, or of the marauding hordes 
of ancient Rome, but that they are, or ought to be, the 
Christian rulers of a Christian people. . . . Ask your 
consciences within the sight of Heaven, if it can be your 
duty; and if you can not find an answer in the affirmative, 
then I say have nothing to do with the accursed system 
(war) and wherever your influence extends, let it be honestly 
and earnestly in favor of Christianity and peace. — From an 
address on Peace and War, delivered in Llandudno, Novem- 
ber 22, 1876.) 

WILLIAM BROSS, 

Journalist; Editor of the Chicago Tribune. (1813-1890.) 

E answered these three questions regarding the ele- 
ments of true success in life: 

(1) What maxims have had a strong influence on 
your life, and helped to your success? "The Proverbs 
of Solomon and other Scriptures. They were quoted a thou- 
sand times by my honored father, and caused an effort to do 
my duty each day, under a constant sense of obligation to 
my Saviour and fellow man." 

(2) What do you consider essential elements of success 
for a young man entering upon such a profession as yours? 
"Sterling, unflinching integrity in all matters, public and 
private. Let everyone do his whole duty, both to God and 
man. Let him follow earnestly the teachings of the Scriptures 
and eschew infidelity in all its forms." 

(3) What, in your observation, have been the chief causes 
of the numerous failures in the life of business and profes- 
sional men? "Want of integrity, careless of the truth, 
reckless in thought and expression, lack of trust in God, and 
a disregard of the teachings of His Holy Word, bad company, 
and bad morals in any of their many phases. — " Successful 
-Business Men of To-day" by Wilbur F. Crafts, page 232. 





50 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JOHN BROOKS, 

Physician; Governor of Massachusetts, 1816-1823. (1752-1825.) 

LOOK back upon my humble life with humility. I 
am sensible of many imperfections that cling to me. 
I know that the present is neither the season nor the 
place to begin the preparation for death. Our whole 
life is given us for this great object, and the work of prepa- 
ration should be early commenced, and be never relaxed till 
the end of our days. To God I can appeal that it has been 
my humble endeavor to serve Him with sincerity ; and 
wherein I have failed, I trust in His grace to forgive. I now 
rest my soul on the mercy of the adorable Creator, through 
the only mediation of His Son, our Lord. — DixwelPs Memoirs, 



SIR THOMAS BROWNE, 

English Physician and Author. (1605-1682.) 

DARE, without usurpation, assume the honorable title 

of a Christian I am of the same belief 

our Saviour taught, the apostles disseminated, the 
fathers authorized, and the martyrs confirmed. 
I desire to exercise my faith in the difficultest point ; for 
to credit ordinary and visible objects is not faith, but per- 
suasion. Some believe the better by seeing Christ's sepul- 
chre ; and when they have seen the Red Sea, doubt not the 
miracle. Now, contrarily, I bless myself and am thankful 
that I lived not in the days of miracles, that I never saw 
Christ nor His disciples. I would not have been one of 
those Israelites that passed the Red Sea, nor one of Christ's 
patients on whom He wrought His wonders ; then had my 
faith been thrust upon me; nor would I enjoy that greater 
blessing pronounced to all that believe and saw not. 'Tis 
an easy and necessary belief to credit what our eyes and 
sense have examined. I believe He was dead and buried, 
and rose again ; and desire to see Him in His glory, rather 
than to contemplate him in His cenotaph or sepulchre. — 
"Religio- Medici" pages 15 and 21, by Sir Thomas Browne. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 5T 

HENRY BROUGHAM, 

English Statesman and Author. (1779-1868.) 

^HAT there should be no exclusion of religious in- 
struction, but that, on the contrary, there should be 
a direct recognition of it, is my very decided opinion. 
I certainly am one of those who think that the bill 
should contain, in positive and express terms, a provision 
that in all schools founded, extended, or improved under 
this bill, the Scriptures shall be read. When I say that the 
Scriptures are one of the Books which should be read in the 
schools, I, of course, mean that it should not be the only 
Book read there : far from it ; God forbid : for the sake of 
religion and the Bible itself, God forbid : but that, as a part 
of the reading in such schools, the Holy Scriptures should 
be used. — From a speech in the House of Lords in 1837. 



CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN, 

Author and Journalist. (1771-1810.) 

;N an age like this, when the foundations of religion 
and morality have been so boldly attacked, it seems 
necessary, in announcing a work of this nature, to be 
particularly explicit as to the path which the editor 
means to pursue. He therefore avows himself to be, without 
equivocation or reserve, the ardent friend and the willing 
champion of the religion of Christ. Christian piety he re- 
veres as the broadest excellence of human beings ; and the 
amplest reward he can seek for his labor is the consciousness 
of having, in some degree, however inconsiderable, con- 
tributed to recommend the practice of religious duties. — 
Page 164, " The Life of Charles Brockden Brown" by 
William H. Prescott, in " The Library of American Biog- 
raphy" by fared Sparks. 




52 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

TYCHO BRAHE, 

Danish Astronomer. (1546-1601.) 

vYCHO was a Christian as well as a philosopher, and 
a man of true piety, and cherished the deepest ven- 
eration for the sacred Scriptures, and for the great 
truths which they reveal. Their principles regu- 
lated his conduct, and their promises animated his hopes. 
His familiarity with the wonders of the heavens increased 
instead of diminished his admiration of divine wisdom, and 
his daily conversation was elevated by a constant reverence 
to a supernatural Power. ... It was perhaps owing to 
Iris veneration for the Scriptures, than to the vanity of giving 
his name to a new system, that he rejected the Copernican 
system. — Biography by Sir David Brewster. 



SIR GAINSFORD BRUCE, 

G \ /~n Judge in the High Court of Justice, England. 

^UR society does well to put in the very front of its 
title the word "Religious." It is the Religious Tract 
9 ^9 Society ; it draws its inspiration from the very source 
and fount of light and knowledge. It is a noble alli- 
ance of God's faithful people, differing no doubt, in some 
smaller matters, but agreeing in those grand truths of Chris- 
tianity which they hold in common. In this society you 
liave a firm hold of your principles that have been professed 
by loyal people for nineteen hundred years all over the world. 
Yet while you are wide in your sympathy, and tolerant in 
your action, you hold your principles very fast, and you pro- 
fess no false alliance with those who would set forth a Christ- 
ianity without a Christ, or a creed without a God. — An ad- 
dress on taking the Chair at the ninety-fourth anniversary of 
the Religious Tract Society, London. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



53 



ROBERT BROWNING, 

English Poet. (i8i2-i8go.) 

This Book's fruit's plain 
And needs not miracle to justify 
It any more. 

Morality to the uttermost, 
Supreme in Christ as we all confess, 
Why need we prove what would avail no jot 
To make Him God if God He were not ? 
What is the point where Himself lays stress ? 
Does the precept run, " Believe in Good, 
In Justice, Truth, now understood 
For the first time ? " — or " believe in Me, 
Who lived and died, yet essentially 
Am Lord of Life." 




^T is the great thing — 

the greatest — that a 

humble being should 
have passed the pro- 
bation of life, and should 
sum up its experience in 
a witness to the power 
and love of God. I con- 
gratulate you. All the 
help I can offer is the as- 
surance that I see more 
reason to hold by the same 
hope — and that by no means ignorant of what has been ad- 
vanced against it. For your sake, I wish I had the genius 
which you attribute to me — a specially privileged insight, 
that I might put it in aid of the ordinary argument. For I 
know I myself have been aware of something more than 
ratiocinative process when the convictions of genius have 
filled my soul to its depths ; as when Napoleon, shutting up 
the New Testament, said of Christ : "Do you know, I am 
an understander of men? Well, He was no man." — Letter 
to a sick friend. 



J f v ri QUE 01 w m \ i :.:.i ;. 

JOSEPH EMERSON BROWN, 

I'. III. .1 || ,,. |{ M H.M 

| \ r< pU to n ow letter i i Ing i few lines as to my opin 

Hv [ Ion oj Christ and the Bible, I hav< to state with pleas 

mu ih a i u iu \ < iiu i [oh Bible Is the Inspired w ord 

ol Qod, and contains the on!) true rule oi faith and 

im u iu> i u u< w that [< mi , Christ Is the Son ol God, the 

So\ i « Ign oi the «ni\ erse, and th< Sa\ ioui oi all * ho be 

lu'\ ( 111 I lim 



V 




^2 t • y ' 



• 



ROBERT BRUCE, 

I I • i I 

\ OWED to God that ii i should live to see an end of 
my wars, i would then set out in person, and carry 
on ^ u mies oi m} Uord and Sa^ ioui to 

m\ pow< ■ Nevei had my heart eei 
ad to this point, but oui Uord has not consented thereto, 
foi i have had my hands (tall in mj days, and now at last I 

witht , \ • . sickness, so that, as you all 

i lm\ i \ . . ',u\ bod) can not 

go th ?compli$h that which m) heart hath so 

much '. i ii.i\ . . \ , . my heart then 

. y body* to tuitiii m\ \,>w . . . in pl&< 

... I - . i . . n i n dew and tried friend, 
that f< kveyou j >u will undertake this vo} 

and a< > d m> Sa\ iour, /> £<m . 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 55 

JOHN BROWN, 

Reformer. (1800-1859.) 

COMMEND you all to Him "whose mercy endure th 
forever," to the God of my fathers, "whose I am, and 
whom I serve." "He will never leave you nor for- 
sake you." Finally, my dearly beloved, be of good 
comfort ! Be sure to remember and follow my advice, and 
my example, too, so far as it has been consistent with the 
holy religion of Jesus Christ, in which I remain a most firm 
and humble believer. Never forget the poor, nor think any- 
thing in them to be lost in you, even though they may be 
black as Ebedmelech, the Ethiopian eunuch, who cared for 
Jeremiah in the pit of the dungeon; or as black as the one 
to whom Philip preached Christ. — Page 580, " Life and 
Letters of John Brown" by Frank B. Sanborn. 



m 



y 



SIR GEORGE BRUCE, 

English Statesman. 

ND what a blank it would be to-day if the religious 
agencies working for Jesus Christ were wiped out 
of existence, how crippled would various agencies 
be over the earth. Because, if ever there was a 
time when it was necessary, in order to the carrying out of 
the great evangel, that there should be a pure literature, a 
literature steeped with the testimony of God's love, it is 
to-day. . . . It is necessary that the Christian Church 
should see that the power of the press is wielded so that the 
truth shall be within reach of all our children, literature 
which shall do them good, and give them something which 
they can have in their hand to tell them of Christ and His 
great salvation. — Delivered in Exeter Hall at the Anniver- 
sary Meeting of the Religious Tract Society, May 8, 1891. 



56 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

FELIX BRUNOT, 

President of the American Reform Association; 
Philanthropist. 

REJOICE in the thought that my feet were early 

guided to my Saviour. Jesus Christ. He is now the 

Rock on whom I rest all my comfort and trust ; as 

earthly things lose power to impart real joy, heavenly 

things abound in peace and consolation. 

The Holy Scriptures, given to man by Divine inspiration, 
that reveals to us this wonderful and blessed Redeemer, is 
daily more prized by me, and taken in its plainest meaning, 
I find it a sufficient and abiding guide under all the condi- 
tions of life. 






:? 




JAMES BUCHANAN, 

Fifteenth President of the United States. (1791-1868.) 

E are both at a period of life when it is our duty 
to relax our grasp on the world fast receding, and 
fix our thoughts, desires, and affections on One 
who knows no change. I trust in God that, 
through the merits and atonement of His Son, we may both 
be prepared for the inevitable change. — "Life of fames Bu- 
chanan" by George Tichnor Curtis. 

I am a believer ; but not with that degree of firmness of 
faith calculated to exercise a controlling influence on my 
conduct. I ought constantly to pray, " Help Thou my un- 
belief." I trust that the Almighty Father, through the 
merits and atonement of His Son, will yet vouchsafe to me 
a clearer and stronger faith than I possess. — A letter to his 
brother, dated at Washington, February 29, 1844. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



57 



JAMES BUCHANAN, 

Congressman. 

COUNT that man my worst enemy who would en- 
deavor to weaken my faith in the Bible as the very 
-Q) revealed Word of God, or in Jesus Christ as the 
atonement for sin. He would darken for me the 
only light which shines over and beyond the dark river. 
He would take from me the only hope I have that my sinful 
nature may be purified, and fitted to dwell in happiness in 
the presence of a pure and sinless God forever. 





<7?*^£ 



-^C(- * -w 




WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, 

Poet and Journalist. (1794-1878.) 

HE sacredness of 

the Bible awes me, 

and I approach it 

with the same sort 
of reverential feeling that 
an ancient Hebrew might 
be supposed to feel who 
was about to touch the ark 
of God with unhallowed 
hands. — Park Goodwill's 
" Life of William Cidleii 
BvyantP 

I can not but lament the 
tendency of the time, en- 
couraged by some in the 
zealous prosecution of science, to turn its attention from the 
teachings of the Gospel, for the beautiful precepts of Christ's 
life, and the supremely excellent precepts which He gave 
His disciples, and the people who resorted to hear Him. To 




5 8 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

these teachings the world owes its recovery from the abom- 
inations of heathenism. The very men who, in the pride of 
their investigations into the secrets of the internal world, turn 
a look of scorn upon the Christian system of belief, are not 
aware how much of the peace and order of society, how 
much the happiness of households, and the purest of those 
who are dearest to them, are owing to the influence of that 
religion extending beyond their sphere. ... In my view, 
the life, the teachings, the labors, and the sufferings of the 
blessed Jesus, there can be no admiration too profound, no 
love of which the human heart is capable too warm, no grati- 
tude too earnest and deep of which He is justly the object. — 
Page 275, "Life of William Cullen Bryant" by John Bigelow. 
This poet's daughter says: "At Naples he made a public 
profession of faith in Christ as his personal Saviour." — Page 
278 of last authority. 



WILLIAM ALFRED BUCKINGHAM, 

"War Governor." (1804-1875.) 

WAS then, as always afterwards, impressed with his 
earnest advocacy of the cause of the weak, his Chris- 
tian faith, and what was far more, his Christian life." 
" There is, in this unbelieving generation, a loud, 
desperate, if not devilish element, hoping nothing here, and 
fearing nothing hereafter, which screams with derision of the 
Christian statesman. Standing by the grave of Governor 
Buckingham, I must not forget to tell the world that he was 
a Christian statesman." 

"He can well bear the name of Christian statesman; for 
though in these days, when clouds of calumny are thick 
about the heads of all men in public life, it is the fashion of 
some to speak sneeringly of Christian statesmen, yet the 
bitterest scoffer and traducer can well mention the name of 
William A. Buckingham as a Christian statesman without a 
sneer. — From Memorial Addresses of Congress7ne7i and Sena- 
tors, delivered in Washington, February 27 and March 1, 1877. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 59 

EDWARD GEORGE EARLE 
BULWER-LYTTON, 

British Novelist. (1805-1873.) 



oP° 



THE LAST CRUSADER. 

EFT to the Saviour's conquering foes, 
The land that girds the Saviour's grave, 
Where Godfrey's crosier-standard rose, 
He saw the crescent-banner wave. 

There, o'er the gently broken vale, 
The halo-light on Zion glowed ; 
There Kedron, with a voice of wail, 
By tombs of saints and heroes flowed. 



" O God ! " the last Crusader cried, 
"And art Thou careless of Thine own ? 
For us Thy Son in Salem died. 
And Salem is the scoffer's throne ! 

"And shall we leave, from age to age, 
To godless hands the holy tomb ? 
Against thy saints the heathen rage — 
Launch forth thy lightnings, and consume ! " 

Swift, as he spoke, before his sight, 
A form flashed, white-robed, from above ; 
All Heaven was in those looks of light, 
But Heaven, whose native air is love. 

"Alas! " the solemn vision said, 
" Thy God is of the shield and spear — 
To bless the quick and raise the dead, 
The Saviour-God descended here ! 

"Ask not the Father to reward 

The hearts that seek, through blood, the Son 

O warrior, never by the sword 

The Saviour's holv land is won ! " 



60 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON 

"OWEN MEREDITH." 

English Poet. (1831-1891.) 



J 



A PRAYER. 

Y Saviour, dare I come to Thee, 

i ^VIL Who let the children come ? 

c> <^? Receive my heart; and for the sake, 
Not of my sorrows, but of Thine, 
Bend down TI13' holy e3'es on mine, 
Which are too full of misery 
To see Thee clearly, though the}' seek. 



WHO BY SEARCHING CAN FIND OUT GOD. 



Our nature is not one with the Divine. 

Not so. The Man-God dies ; and b}- His death 
Doth with His own immortal life combine 

The spirit pining in this mortal breath. 
Who from Himself, Himself did alienate, 

That He, returning to Himself, might pave 

A pathway hence, to heaven from the grave, 
For man to follow through the heavenly gate. 



And so the Prince of Life, in d}'ing, gave 

Undying life to mortals. Once He stood 
Among His fellows this side the grave, 

A man, perceptible to flesh and blood : 
Now, taken from our sight, He dwells no less 

Within our mortal memory and thought ; 

The mystery of all He was and wrought 
Is made a part of general consciousness, 
And in this consciousness I reach repose. 




THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 

THE BEATITUDES. 



HE opened His mouth, and taught them saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, 
for their's is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they 
shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed 
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: 
for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the 
children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake : for 
their's is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and 
persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for My sake. — 
Matthew v. 1-12. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 6l 

CHRISTIAN KARL JOSIAS BUNSEN, 

Prussian Scholar and Ambassador. (1791-1860.) 

ITH all feebleness and imperfection I have ever 
lived, striven after, and willed the best and no- 
blest only. Bnt the best and noblest is to have 
known Jesus Christ. . . . Christ is the Son 
of God, and we only His sons if the spirit of love which was 
in Christ is also in us. — Pages 390 and 392, "Memoirs" by 
Frances Baroness Bunsen. 

I hope that our children and our children's children will 
see religious liberty, not only in this land and in my own 
country, but over the whole world ; when the Bible and the 
faith of the Gospel will form the basis, as it is the only 
basis, of civil and religious liberty, for the Bible is the only 
cement of nations, and the only cement that can bind relig- 
ious hearts together ; and that this great and glorious insti- 
tution, the mother of hundreds of blessed institutions all 
over the world, will be at the head of all, proclaiming the 
Word of God as the foundation of all peace and happiness in 
this world, and in that which is to come. — A passage in an 
address before the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1852. 




ROBERT JONES BURDETTE, 

Humorist. 

ECAUSE of the beauty of His life, men either hate 
Him or love Him. His surpassing tenderness, His 
loving humanity, His gracious compassion, His match- 
less courage, His fidelity to duty and conviction, all 
His immaculate qualities stand in such glaring contrast to our 
imperfections, speak such pitiful, yet piercing rebuke to our 
faults, are such constant reminders of our duty, that we either 
love to contemplate His character, with the ever-iu creasing 
desire to grow like Him, or, with whatever condescending 
phrase of smooth approval we may veil our real thought, we 



62 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

hate His influence, and with a certain sense of irritation, 
shake off all thoughts of Him as they present themselves. 
Indifference is impossible. Of all characters, grand, noble, 
lofty, in their attainment of excellence, but ONE in all the 
range of all history, inspires men with a desire either to wor- 
ship or else to dethrone — that one is Jesus Christ. In all 
others who have moved, or taught, or ruled men, we find 
ground for toleration or condemnation. In the worst of men 
we find some redeeming trait ; in the best, some glaring fault, 
some marred imperfection. Christ, our Saviour, alone stands 
high as heaven above all criticism. Like the Wise Men, led 
by the stars, we fall at His feet and worship Him to declare : 
"I see no fault in Him," and then order Him to be put to 
death. "Whereunto shall I liken my kingdom?" exclaimed 
the Christ. And the highest intellect, the profoundest knowl- 
edge, scanning every page of history, can find no man or 
angel with whom we can compare Jesus of Nazareth, the 
Man incomparable, the very God. 



(yt ) <rfets£b \CQusrcCvfrt 




ELIHU BURRITT, 

Author and Linguist. (1810-1879.) 

HAT is remarkable, when he (Junius Brutus Booth) 
was inclined to give an illustration of this faculty 
to private circles of friends he nearly always select- 
ed some passages of Job, David, or Isaiah, or other 
holy men of old. When an aspiring professor of Harvard 
went to him by night to ask a little advice or instruction in 
qualifying himself for an orator, the veteran tragedian opened 
the Bible from Isaiah in a way that made the Cambridge 
scholar tremble with awe, as if the prophet had risen from 
the dead, and was uttering sublime visions in his ear. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 63 

Suppose, for instance, we could see with their eyes the 
historical God of the universe, as He sees them; that He 
could, as it were, photograph their impersonation of His 
being ; the humanity they made Him wear ; the throne they 
fseat Him on ; the crown they place on His head ; the robes 
they clothe Him with ; His heaven, His angels, our Saviour 
at His side ; and the spirits of the just made perfect in the 
forms they give them. If we could see all these embodi- 
ments of their conception, we should get a clear view of the 
faculty of idealism in the highest realm of spiritual life, as 
well as in that general progress and well-being of mankind 
which we call civilization. — See "Life of Elihu Burritt" by 
Charles Northend. 



ROBERT BURNS, 

Scottish Poet. (1759-1796.) 



V 



jGyJv?' MIND pervaded, actuated, and governed by purity, 
\Jfq\. truth, and charity, though it does not merit heaven, 
yet it is an absolutely necessary prerequisite, with- 
out which heaven can neither be obtained nor 
enjoyed; and by Divine promise such a mind shall never 
fail of "attaining everlasting life;" hence the impure, the 
deceiving, and the uncharitable extrude themselves from 
eternal bliss by their unfitness for enjoying it. The Supreme 
Being has put the immediate administration of all this, for 
wise and good ends known to Himself, into the hands of 
Jesus Christ, a great Personage, whose relations to Him we 
can not comprehend, but whose relation to us is that of guide 
and Saviour; and who except for our obstinacy and miscon- 
duct, will bring us all, through various ways and by various 
means, to bliss at last. — See "Development of English Liter- 
ature and Language" Volume II, page 236, by Alfred Welsh. 



I cast myself on the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy. — John 
Randolphs last words. 



6 4 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 





EDMUND BURKE, 

English Statesman and Orator. (1729-1797.) 

JRST, according to 
>JL(^ the ancient, good, and 
laudable custom, of 
which my heart and 
understanding recognize the 
propriety, I bequeath my 
soul to God, hoping for His 
mercy through the only 
merits of our Lord and Sav- 
iour Jesus Christ. — P. 441, 
Volume II, "Life of Edmund 
Burke" by Robert Bis s el. 
The Scripture is no one 
summary of doctrines regularly digested, in which a man 
could not mistake his way ; it is a most remarkable, but most 
multifarious, collection of the records of the Divine economy; 
a collection of an infinite variety of theology, history, prophe- 
cy, psalmody, morality, allegory, legislation, carried through 
different books, by different authors, at different ages, for 
different ends and purposes. — Page 90, Volume VI, "The 
Works and Correspondence of the Right Honorable Edmund 
Burke." 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BUTLER, 

Lawyer and Attorney-General under President Jackson. 
(1795-1858.) 

B is truly happy, whatever may be his temporal con- 
dition, who can call God his Father in the full assur- 
ance of faith and hope. And amid all his trials, con- 
flicts, and doubts, the feeblest Christian is still com- 
paratively happy ; because cheered by the hope — faint and 
humble though it be — that the hour is coming when he 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 65 

shall be delivered from "this body of sin and death," and in 
the vision of his Redeemer, and by a never-ending pro- 
gression in knowledge and virtue, approximate to the per- 
fection and felicity of angels. Not only does the Bible in- 
culcate, with sanctions of the highest import, a system of the 
purest morality, but in the person and character of our 
blessed Saviour it exhibits a tangible illustration of that sys- 
tem. In Him we have set before us — what, till the publica- 
tion of the Gospel, the world had never seen — a model of 
feeling and action, adapted to all times, places, and circum- 
stances; and combining so much of wisdom, benevolence, 
and holiness, that none can fathom its sublimity; and yet, 
presented in a form so simple, that even a child may be 
made to understand and taught to love it. — From an address 
delivered at Alexandria, D. C, 1834. 



SAMUEL BUTLER, 

English Poet (Hudibras). (1612-1680.) 




FROM MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS. 

HE great St. Louis, king of France, 
In Egypt in the Holy War, 
Was routed and made prisoner : 
The Sultan then, into whose hands 
He and his army fell, demands 
A thousand weight of gold, to free 
And set them all at liberty. 
The king pays down one half o' the nail, 
And for the others offers bail, 
The pyx, and in't the eucharist, 
The body of our Saviour Christ. 
The Turk considered and allow'd 
The king's security for good : 
Such credit had the Christian's zeal 
In those days, with the Infidel, 
That will not pass for two-pence now 
Among themselves, 'tis grown so low. 



66 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

HEZEK1AH BUTTERWORTH, 

Author. 




BARABBAS. 
John xviii: 40. 

ARABBAS, in his prison cell, 

Gazed on the heavens fair, 
And saw the paschal moon ascend 

In night's empurpled air. 
The hours crept on ; with awe and dread 

He waited for the morn ; 
He heard at last the soldier's tread, 

And saw the bolt withdrawn. 

" Barabbas," so the soldier spake, 

" I bring thee news of grace, 
For Christ, the man of Nazareth, 

To-day shall take thy place. 
Without the gate shall Jesus bear 

The cross prepared for thee, 
Go thou to the atoning feast ! " 

The man of crime went free. 

Barabbas saw the darkened earth 

When came the hour of noon, 
And slept in peace when Jesus wept 

Beneath the paschal moon. 
O man of sin ! in Thee I see 

Myself redeemed b3' grace ; 
The blood-stained Cross that rose for thee 

Took every sinner's place. 



SIR THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON, 

English Philanthropist. (1786-1845.) 

HOLD the Scriptures with great interest and, I want 

to say, happiness. I am sure that some of the best 

hours that I spend are while reading my Bible, which 

is as great as a Book can be. — Page 169, " Study for 

Young Men" by Thomas Binney. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 6j 

I have been praying vehemently for myself, that I may 
receive faith ; that I may receive the grace of God in my 
heart ; that I may have a clear vision of Christ ; that I may 
perfectly obey Him ; that I may have the supporting of the 
Lord in every trial, and be admitted finally into His glorions 
kingdom. . . . May we, whilst here, whether called to 
do or to suffer, be each other's joy in the Lord ; and when 
the end comes, through a Saviour's love and merits, may 
we behold the King in His beauty, and rejoice in His presence 
forever. . . . Lord, make us more truly thankful for Thy 
innumerable mercies to us; and with the blessings of the 
body, give those far greater blessings of the soul which are 
by Christ Jesus. . . . The Lord bless us with a sense of 
His mercy, of His love, and of His indulgent kindness to us, 
and give us an anxious desire to serve Him, and to please 
Him for Christ sake. — Pages 595, 597, and 601 of His Life, 
by his son, Charles Buxton, 



SIR THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON, 

English Statesman. 

E can not help but believe that in spite of the con- 
vvjPjlh flicts, one thing has gone steadily on, and that is, 
1^(2^? love for the Bible and for Christian truth. — From 
a missionary talk at Exeter Hall, May 2, 1892. 
At the beginning of the week was held the annual meeting 
of the Church Missionary Society. I suppose it was never 
better attended, and the great truth was never more power- 
fully enforced that it is one of the central duties of the Chris- 
tian Church to convey the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ to all the heathen and Mohammedan world. The 
next day was held the meeting of the Bible Society, and 
there, too, its supporters were reminded of the great duty 
which lies upon us of making the Word of God known 
throughout the world. And this evening we are met to know 
how far the work of this Society is carrying on and helping 



68 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

the same important purpose, how far it is performing its part 
toward helping the great work of societies such as those by 
the supply of literature which will attract by every art known 
to those who make books, and which by its books, leaflets, 
pamphlets, and tracts shall prepare the way to extend the 
knowledge of the Word of God. — Extract of an address as 
Chairman of the Religions Tract Society, May 6, 1887. 




LORD GEORGE GORDON BYRON, 

English Poet. (1788-1824.) 

N the fifteenth canto of one of his poems, he asks these 
questions : 

" Was it not so, great Locke ? and greater Bacon ? 
Great Socrates ? and Thou, Diviner still ? (*} 

In the footnote referred to he defines his meaning more 
particularly : u (*) As it is necessary in these times to avoid 
ambiguity, I say that I mean by ' Diviner still,' Christ. If 
ever God was man, or man God, he was both. I never ar- 
raigned His creed, but the use or abuse of it." — Page 339, 
Volume X, British Poets. 

"Prayer," said Lord Byron, at Cephalonia, "does not con- 
sist in the act of kneeling, nor in repeating words in a solemn 
manner. Devotion is the affection of the heart, and this I 
feel ; for when I view the wonders of creation, I bow to the 
majesty of Heaven, and when I feel the enjoyment of life, 
health, and happiness, I am grateful to God for having be- 
stowed these upon me." All that is well, so far as it goes, 
but to be a Christian, you must go farther. "I read more of 
the Bible than you are aware," he continued; "I have a Bi- 
ble which my sister gave me, who is an excellent woman, 
and I read it very often." He then went into his bedroom, 
on saying this, and brought out a pocket Bible, finely bound, 
and showed it to me. — "Kennedy? s Conversation with Lord 
Byron" page 135; also, see footnote in "Cain" 




PRESIDENTS OF UNIVERSITIES. 



Cyrus Northrop, 


James B. Angell, 


Page 342. 


Page 14. 


Jacob B. Schurmann, 


William R. Harper, 


Page 400. 


Page 214. 


Henry W. Rogers, 


Joseph Swain, 


Page 384. 


Page 438. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 69 

HENRY CALDERWOOD, 

Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University 
of Edinburg. 

*HE Bible makes it essential to the government of the 
world, in harmony with fixed laws, that God should 
be the hearer and answerer of the prayer of His in- 
telligent creatures, always pointing to reliance upon 
the Saviour's work as the test of the reality of the exercise 
in the case of all who profess the written revelation of His 
will, in the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. — Pages 307 and 
310, " Relation of Science and Religion" by Henry C alder- 
wood. 

SIR LEONARD CALVERT, 

(LORD BALTIMORE.) 

Founder of Maryland (1582-1632.) 

DO further swear that I will not myself, nor any other 
person, directly or indirectly, trouble, molest, or dis- 
countenance any person whatever, in the said prov- 
ince, professing to believe in Jesus Christ. — Form of 
oath prescribed by Lord Baltimore in Governor Stone's time. 
Great and manifold are the benefits wherewith Almighty 
God hath blessed this colony, first brought and planted 
within the province of Maryland, at your lordship's charge, 
and continued by your care and industry, in the happy resti- 
tution of a blessed peace unto us, being lately wasted by a 
miserable dissension and unhappy war. But more estimable 
are the blessings poured on this province, in planting Chris- 
tianity among a people that knew not God, nor had heard of 
Christ. All which, we recognize and acknowledge to be done 
and performed, next under God, by your lordship's pious in- 
tention towards the advancement and propagation of the 
Christian religion, and the peace and happiness of this col- 
ony and province. — A vote passed by the Assembly in eitlogy of 
Lord Baltimore, three years after his death. Pages 178 and 
227, Volume XIX, Spark? s "Library of Arnerican Biography.^ 




JO A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON CABLE, 

Author and Lecturer. 

yN ounce of reverence founded on one's own personal 
q_^_ convictions of Scripture truth is worth in God's sight 

c / (3° a hundredweight of mere traditional reverence. 

The Bible, even if every separate word of it be 
Divinely inspired, is only Christianity's revelation, the tree 
that bears Christianity. The words of Christ, hanging from 
that tree, are its fruit. 

All our study of the Bible, with or without books, should 
give us a result within ourselves, independent of books at 
last, and from first to last should be faithful, diligent thinking 
— a thinking unceasingly centered upon the problem ; how 
more and more clearly and fully, day by da}', to achieve in all 
our being, not Scripture lore, but the likeness — and to apply 
in all our doings the principle of Jesus Christ, our Lord. — 
Extracts from the "Busy Marts Bible" by George W. Cable. 



GEORGE JOHN DOUGLAS CAMPBELL, 

(DUKE OF ARGYLL.) 

British Statesman and Author. 

N the absence of Revelation, or the teachings of Au- 
thority, fancy and imagination have no guide and are 
under no restraint. 

Of the origin of religion, indeed, as we have already 
seen, history can tell us nothing, because, unless the Mosaic 
narrative be accepted, there is no history of the origin of man. 
I do not know, indeed, why we should set any very high 
estimate on the success which has attended the most learned 
theologians, in giving anything like form or substance to our 
conception of the God-head. Christianity solves the difficulty 
by presenting, as the type of all true conceptions on the 
subject, the image of a divine humanity, and the history of a 
perfect Life. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 7 1 

How different this idea of the methods in which the Divine 
Spirit operates on the minds of men from the idea held on 
the same subject by that great Apostle of our Lord, whose 
work it was to spread among the Gentile world those concep- 
tions which had so long been the special heritage of one 
peculiar people ! How cautious Paul is when expressing an 
opinion not directly sanctioned by an authority higher than 
his own! "I think also that I have the Spirit of God." — 
Pages 500, 504 and 511, "-The Unity of Nature " by the Duke 
of Argyll. 

WILL CAR.LETON, 

Poet and Author. 



EXTRACTS FROM " FESTIVALS OF THE 
^ NATIONS." 



- ITTLE by little, as God gives us light, 
£1/We read the sacred cipher of His Word ; 
j^Not only of His Word, but of His works, 
Doth He reveal Himself. 

Mariners of royal life, 

You who have sailed the waves of strife ; 

You who have breasted war's red billows, 

For the meed of sacred fame, . 

And Christ's holy sacred name, 

Now in heathen lands his wraith 

In that sepulchre still lies, 
'Mid those hordes of pagan faith. 

Sad and suffering are his eyes, 
Drooping are his nail-scarred hands ; 
Can you hear His mild commands ? 
Can you hear his sacred moans ? 
" I am not among my own ; 
They received me not when living, 

They protect me not when dead. 
Must I suffer — still forgiving — 

In a foeman-guarded bed? " 
" Sovereigns, I the vow have made 
That this Western march of mine 
Shall be first of a crusade 

To that Eastern tomb Divine." 



72 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

GEORGE CANNING, 

Prime Minister of England. (1770-1827. 




ON THE DEATH OF HIS SON. 

INCE this world was not the world for thee, 
Far from thy path removed with partial care 
Strife, glory, gain, and pleasures, flowery snare, 
Bade earth's temptations pass thee powerless by, 
And fixed in heaven thine unreverting eye ! 
Oh, marked from birth and nurtured for the skies { 
In youth with more than learning's wisdom wise ! 
As sainted martyrs, patient to endure ! 
Simple as un weaned infancy, and pure — 
Pure from all stain (save that of human clay, 
Which Christ's atoning blood hath washed away !) 
By mutual sufferings now no more oppressed, 
Mount sinless spirit to thy destined rest ! — 

— Aldeiis Cyclopedia of Universal Literature. 




THOMAS CAMPBELL, 

English Poet. (1777-1844.) 

yS opportunity served, and trie attention of the sufferer 
could be aroused, passages from the Scripture, par- 
ticularly from the Gospels and Epistles, were read, 
and he expressed perfect assurance of hope through 
the atonement of the Saviour. On several occasions he de- 
clared to his niece a vivid sense of the beauty and sublimity 
of the Bible. Toward the end he called her to his couch 
and said: " Come, let us sing praises to Christ ;" and then 
pointing to the bed-side, he added, "Sit here." Miss Camp- 
bell questioned, "Shall I pray for you?" "Oh, yes," he re- 
plied, "let us pray for one another." It was not long after 
this that he passed away in sweet peace. — See Biography 
published with his poems. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 73 

THOMAS CARLYLE, 

British Essayist and Historian. (1795-1881.) 

'HE Hebrew 

Bible, is it 

not before 

all things 
true as no other 
book ever was or 
will be 1—Page -388, 
"Miscellaneous Pa- 
pers." 

In the poorest 
cottage are books : 
is one Book where- 
in, for several thou- 
sands of years, the 
spirit of man has 
found light, and 
nourishment, and an interpreting response to whatever is 
deepest in him. — Essays : " Corn-Law Rhymes." 

The Bible itself has, in all changes of theory about it, this 
as its highest distinction : that it is the truest of all books. 
The Book springs, every word of it, from the intensest con- 
victions, from the very heart's core, of those who penned it ; 
and has not that been a successful Book ? Did all the Pater- 
noster Rows of the world ever hear of one so successful ? — 
" Critical and Miscellaneous Essays." 

If thou ask to what height man has carried it, look to our 
divinest symbol: Jesus of Nazareth, and His life, and His 
biography, and what followed therefrom. Higher has the 
human thought never reached ; this is Christianity and 
Christendom — a symbol of quite perennial, infinite character, 
whose significance will ever demand to be anew inquired 
into and anew made manifest. — " Sartor Re sarins," Book 
III, Chapter III. 




74 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

What was it to the Pharaohs of Egypt of that old era if 
Jethro, the Midianite priest and grazier, accepted the He- 
brew outlaw as his herdsman ? Yet the Pharaohs, with all 
their chariots of war, are buried deep in wrecks of time ; 
and Moses still lives ; not among his own tribe only, but in 
the hearts and daily business of civilized nations. Nay, to 
take an infinitely higher instance : who has ever forgotten 
those lines of Tacitus, inserted as a small, transitory, alto- 
gether trifling circumstance in the history of such a potentate 
as Nero? To us it is the most earnest and strongly signifi- 
cant passage that we know to exist in writing : " Ergo 
abolendo rumori, Nero subdidit reos, et qusesitissimis pcenis 
affecit ; quos per flagitia invisos, vulgus Christianos appel- 
labat. Auctor nominis ejus Christus, qui, Tiberio imperitante, 
per Procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio affectus erat. 
Repressaque in prsesens excitabilis superstitio rursus erum- 
pebat, non modo per Judseam originem ejus mali, sed per 
urbem etiam quo cuncta undique atrocia aut pudenda con- 
fluunt celebranturque.' , So for quieting of this rumor [of 
having set fire to Rome], Nero judicially charged with the 
crime and punished with the most studied severities that 
class hated for their general wickedness, whom the vulgar 
call Christians. The originator of that name was one Christ, 
who, in the reign of Tiberius, suffered death by the sentence 
of the Procurator Pontius Pilate. The baneful superstition, 
thereby suppressed for the time, again broke out, not only 
over Judea, the native soil of that mischief, but in the city 
also, where from every side all atrocious and abominable 
things collect and flourish." Tacitus was the wisest, most 
penetrating man of his generation ; and to such depth, and 
no deeper, has he seen into this transaction, the most import- 
ant that has occurred, or can occur, in the annals of man- 
kind. — " Critical and Miscellaneous Essays" 



God is so good, so very good to the little fishes, I do not 
believe He will let their inspector suffer shipwreck at last. 
— Among the last words of Buckland, the Naturalist. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 75 

JAMES A. CAMPBELL, 

Member of Parliament. 

'" V" OW the Lord seems to have taken the key into His 
• , ^vl own hands. He opens and no man shuts; He shuts 
^p and no man can open. He has turned the keys of 
most all these doors: He-has opened them in Africa; 
He has opened them in China; He has opened them in 
Japan; He has opened them in Northwestern America; He 
has opened them in the islands of the sea. The point w T e 
have to consider is, shall we or shall we not enter into these 
open doors? Oh, I pray with all my heart and soul that we 
may with one heart and one voice exclaim, "Lord Jesus, 
open, we will enter! " — Page 159, Volume 7, "Report of the 
Missionary Conference" London, 1888. 



FRANKLIN CARTER. 

President of Williams College. 

DO not beHeve that testimonies from any merely hu- 
man source can in the least compare for authority 
with Christ's testimony of Himself. All goes back to 
His Divine character and work, and to the response 
of the mind that loves purity and goodness to His life and 
words. We may safely affirm that the character wholly 
modified on His precepts and example is not surpassed in the 
annals of human goodness. Those who deny His supernatu- 
ral claims, admit the beauty and loveliness of the Christian 
character. The influence of His life is weighty and perma- 
nent because He was from above. That alone accounts for 
the present condition of the world, and though this influence 
may in certain epochs seem to wane, it is indestructible, and, 
I believe, alwavs increasino-. 



T^Ut/LiiJ" G cx^Qx 




j6 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JACQUES CARTIER, 

French Navigator and Explorer. (1494-1555.) 

_N 1535 his ships lay in the stream of Hochelaga — the 
modern Montreal — where the Indians gathered about 
him to pay their respects. It seemed to these poor 
heathen " that God was descended and come down 
from heaven to heal them," because of the marked kindness 
of Cartier to them. The best he could do was to pray. He 
read the first chapter of the Gospel of St. John and the pas- 
sion of Christ, and besought the Heavenly Father that He 
would have mercy upon these benighted savages, and bring 
them to a knowledge of His holy Word. The Indians were 
" marvellous attentive," looking to Heaven as the Christians 
did, and imitating all the gestures of devotion. — Page 185, 
Volume I, " Bryan? s Popular History of the United States." 




LEWIS CASS, 

Lawyer, Governor, General, Diplomat, and United States 
Senator. (1782-1866.) 

OW are the mighty fallen! we may yet exclaim, when 
reft of our great and wisest; but they fall to rise 
again from death to life, when such quickening faith 
in the mercy of God and in the sacrifice of the Re- 
deemer comes to shed upon them its happy influence this 
side of the grave and beyond it. — From an obituary address 
in the United States Senate, December 14, 1852. 

God, in His providence, has given us a Book of His re- 
vealed will to be with us at the commencement of our career 
in this life and at its termination ; and to accompany us 
during all chances and changes of this trying and fitful prog- 
ress, to control the passions, to enlighten the judgment, to 
guide the conscience, to teach us what we ought to do here, 
and what we shall be hereafter. — From a letter dated at Wash- 
ington, 1846. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. JJ 

Two of our colleagues have fallen in the midst of their 
labors, and we have followed them to their narrow house, 
where all must lie. In life we are in death; and this lesson, 
which accompanies us from the cradle to the grave, is among 
those merciful dispensations of Providence which teach us 
how transitory are the things around us, and how soon they 
must be abandoned for an existence, with no hope but that 
which is held out by the Gospel of our Saviour. — Extract 
from a memorial address delivered before the Senate and 
House, July 10, 1850. 



WILLIAM CECIL, 

(LORD BURLEIGH.) 

Prime Minister of England. (1520-1598.) 

.HE virtuous inclinations of thy matchless mother, by 
whose tender and godly care thy infancy was gov- 
erned ; together with the education under so zealous 
and excellent a tutor, puts me in rather assurance 
than hope that thou art not ignorant of that summum bonum 
which is only able to make thee happy and worship th)* 
Creator and Redeemer, without which all things are vain and 
miserable. — To his son Robert; Volume IV, of Charles 
Knight's "Half-Hours with the Best Authors" 




COUNT CAMILLO BENSO CAVOUR, 

Italian Reformer. (1810-1861.) 

E was firmly attached to the Christian religion. His 
mind was fixed in bringing about the freedom and 
unity of Italy. His policy was an entire separation 
of Church and State. This was diametrically op- 
posed to the prevailing religion of his country, and hence 
met with a strong opposition from the ecclesiastical power 
at Rome. 




;S A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

His views of the future life are given in his dying words : 
lk I must prepare for the great passage into eternity; I have 
confessed and have been forgiven. I desire that it be known 
— that the good people of Turin may know — that I died 
the death of a true Christian. I am without anxiety. I 
know I have injured no man. n He then whispered his last 
words: "Libera chiera in libera state" — a free Church in a 
free State. — "Life of Cavour? by Mayades. 




^ 



ROBERT CHAMBERS, 

Scottish Writer and Publisher. (1802-1871.) 

HAT the birth of Jesus Christ, the Deliverer of the 
human race, and the mysterious link connecting the 
transcendent and uncomprehensible attributes of 
Deity with human sympathy and affection, should be 
considered as the most glorious event that ever happened, 
and the most worthy of being reverently and joyously com- 
memorated, is a proposition which must commend itself to 
the heart and reason of every one of His followers who 
aspires to walk in His footsteps and share in the ineffable 
benefits which His death has secured to mankind. — Page 
744, Volume II, " Chambers* Books of Days, a Miscellany of 
Popular Antiquities," edited by R. Chambers. 



HENRI CHARLES FERDINAND MARIE 
D1EUDONNE CHAMBORD. 

Head of the Elder Branch of the Bourbon Dynasty. 
(1820-1883.) 

f fcflTY personality is nothing; my principle is everything. 

. yfx France will see the end of her trials when she is 

x ^ 9 willing to understand this. I am a necessary pilot — 

the only one capable of guiding the ship to port, 

because I have for that a mission of authority. You, sir, are 

able to do much to remove misunderstandings and prevent 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 79 

weaknesses in the hour of struggle. Your consoling words 
on leaving Salzburg are ever present to my mind. France 
can not perish, for Christ still loves His Franks ; and when 
God has resolved to save a people, He takes care that the 
Sceptre of Justice is only put into hands strong enough to 
hold it. — Page 226, " Men of the Time" by Thompson. 



CHARLES I., 

King of England. (1600-1649.) 



DO here promise and solemnly vow, in the presence 
and for the service of Almighty God, that if it shall 
please the Divine Majesty of His infinite goodness 
to restore me to my just, kingly rights, and to re- 
establish me in my throne, I will wholly give back to His 
Church all those unappropriations which are now held by 
the crown. ... I humbly beseech God to accept of this, 
my vow, and bless me in the design I have now in hand, 
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. — Charles R. Oxford, April 
13, 1647. Page 231, " The History and Fate of Sacrilege" 
by Sir Henry Spellman. 



SALMON PORTLAND CHASE, 

Ch 




Chief-Justice of United States Supreme Court, 1864-1873. 
(1808-1873.) 



IVB me solid and substantial religion; give me an 
humble, gentle lover of God and man ; a man full 
of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and 
without hypocrisy ; a man laying himself out in the 
works of faith, the patience of hope, the labor of love. Let 
my soul be with those Christians, wheresoever they are, and 
whatsoever opinion they are of. — u Life and Public Services 
of Salmon, P. Chase" by J. W. Schuckers. 

When shall I be thoroughly imbued with a humble, self- 
denying, holy spirit? O Lord, my Saviour, do Thou assist 



80 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

and teach me ! To-day I rose too late ; attended 

private and family prayers ; afterwards read several chapters 
in Leviticus, having again began to read the Scriptures in 
course, intending to read the Old Testament in private, and 
the New with the family. It is my deliberate opinion that 
all the writings of all moral and political writers do not con- 
tain so much practical wisdom, whether applicable to state 
or persons. — "Private Life and Public Services of Salmon P. 
Cliasc" by Robert B. Warden. 



k 



THOMAS CHATTERTON, 

English Poet. 11752-1770.) 



AIM fully assured that God does not, and, therefore, 
that man ought not, to require any more of any man 
'QJ than this: to believe the Scripture to be God's Word; 
to endeavor to find out the true sense of it, and to live 

according to it. — Page 389, Aldcn y $ Cyclopaedia of Universal 

Literature. 

A HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 

How shall we celebrate to-day, 
When Cod appeared in mortal clay. 

The mark of worldly scorn ? 
When the Archangel's pearly lays 
Attempted the Redeemer's praise 

And hail'd salvation's morn ? 

A humble form the Godhead wore 
The pains of poverty He bore. 

To gaudy pomps unknown: 
Though in human walk lie trod. 
Still was the man Almighty God, 
In glory all His own. 



How shall we celebrate His name. 
Who groaned beneath a life of shame 

In all afflictions tried? 
The soul is raptured to conceive 
A truth which being must believe. 
The God eternal died. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 8 

FRANCOIS AUGUSTE CHATEAUBRIAND. 

French Writer and Statesman. (1768-1848.) 

Christianity is 

perfect; men are im- 
perfect. Now a per- 
fect consequence can 
not spring from an imperfect 
principle. Christianity, 
therefore, is not the work of 
men. If Christianity is not 
the work of men, it can come 
from none but God. If it 
came from God, men can not 
have acquired a knowledge of it except by Revelation. 
Therefore Christianity is a revealed religion. 

Jesus Christ may, therefore, with strict truth, in a material 
sense, be that Saviour of the world, which He is in a 
spiritual sense. His career on earth was, even humanly 
speaking, the most important event that has ever occurred 
among men, since the regeneration of society commenced 
only with the proclamation of the Gospel. A little earlier, 
His morality would not have been absolutely necessary, for 
the nations were still upheld by their ancient laws; a little 
later, that Divine necessity would have appeared after the 
general wreck of society. — Pages 678 and 679, " The Genius 
of Christianity" by Viscount De Chateaubriand. 




CHARLES V., 

King of Germany, and later Charles I. of Spain. 
(1500-1558.) 

HAVE tasted more satisfaction in my solitude in one 
day, than all the triumphs of my former reign. The 
sincere study, profession, and practice of the Chris- 
tian religion have in them such joys and sweetness 

as are seldom found in courts and grandeur. — Page 63, 

" Power of Religion" by Lindley Murray. 



82 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 




GEOFFREY CHAUCER, 

English Poet-Laureate. (1340-1400.) 




EXTRACTS FROM 
"THE CANTERBURY TALES." 

HO folwith Cristes Gospel and His lore 

But we, that humble ben, and chast, and pore, 

Workers of Goddes Word, not auditours. 

— The Sompnoures Tale. 

O cause first of our confusioun, 

Till Crist had bought us with His blood agayn ! 

Loketh, how dere, schortly for to sayn, 

Abought was first this cursed felonye ; 

Corrupt was al this world for glutonye. 

Adam our fader, and his wfy also, 

Fro Paradys to labour and to wo 

Were dryven for that vice, it is no drede. 

For whils that Adam fasted, as I rede, 

He was in Paradys, and whan that he 

Eet of the fruyt defendit of a tre, 

He was cast out to wo and into peyne. 

Now for the love of Crist that for us dyde, 
Levith youre othis, bothe gret and smale. — 

— The Pardoneres Tale. 



QJ 



SIR JOHN CHEKE. 

English Statesman. (1514-1557.) 

>EARN to know this one point of religion, that God 
will be worshipped as He hath prescribed, and not as 
30 we have devised. And that His will is wholly the 
Scriptures, which is God's spirit, and profitable to teach 
the truth. . . . If ye seek what the old doctors say, yet 
seek what Christ, the oldest of all, saith. For he saith: "Be- 
fore Abraham was, I am." If ye seek the truest way, He is 
the very truth ; if ye seek the readiest way, He is the very 
way; if ye seek everlasting life, He is the very life. — Page 
373> Volume /, "British Plutarch." 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 83 

RUFUS CHOATE, 

Lawyer. (1 799-1859.) 

iEFORE he was six years old he had become so famil- 
iar with Pilgrim's Progress as to repeat from memory 
large portions of it. He was extremely fond of the 
Bible. — Volume I } "Appletorts Cyclopedia of American 
Biography" 

During the later years of Mr. Choate's life, his mind, never 
indifferent to religious subjects, was inclined more than ever 
to the consideration of man's nature and destiny, his moral 
duties, and his relations to his God. He had implicit faith in 
the Christian religion ; and felt a confidence so sure in that 
form of it which he had early been taught, that he did not 
care to disturb his belief by rash and objectless speculations. 
— u Me7noirs of Rufus Choate" by Samuel Gilman Brown. 



ISAAC PECKHAM CHRISTIANCY, 

Lawyer, Diplomat, and United States Senator. (1812-1890.) 

WHylv say that I have a strong conviction of the truth 
and purity of the teachings of Christ as given in the 
New Testament as far as they relate to human con- 
duct. My reason leads me to the belief of immortal- 
ity, as I can form no conception of annihilation, and if man 
with all his great faculties of mind, and all the high aspira- 
tions which God has given him, is to end at death, he seems 
to be the greatest absurdity in the universe. I remember 
with deep love and reverence the instructions of my Christian 
mother, long since dead, and that they have had a strong 
and abiding influence upon my life. And I believe that for 
nearly all that is best and most lovely in the character and 
lives of the best men, in the most enlightened countries, they 
are more indebted to the teachings of their Christian mothers 
than to any other human agency. I could heartily wish that 
all mankind could have been, or could be, the sons of Chris- 



84 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

tian mothers. At my mother's knee I learned the doctrine 
of salvation, the sermon on the mount, and all the pure and 

lovely teachings of Christ These teachings of 

Christ in reference to the duties and conduct of men toward 
each other, and the pure motives from which such conduct 
ought to spring, are so lovely and pure, so absolutely perfect, 
and appeal so directly to the heart, and mind, and are so im- 
measurably superior to any and all ethics taught by either 
ancient or modern philosophers, that they seem to carry 
with them internal evidence of their necessary and eternal 
truth. — A letter to W. H. Boyd, Monroe, Michigan, in ii 




EDWARD DANIEL CLARKE, 

English Traveler and Mineralogist. (1769-1822.) 

>HE pure Gospel of Christ, everywhere the herald of 
civilization and of science, is little known in the 
Holy Land. ... If we seek for the blessed ef- 
fects of Christianity in the Land of Canaan, we must 
look for the period when " the desert shall blossom as the 
rose, and the wilderness become a fruitful field." For this 
reason we had early resolved to use the Sacred Scriptures 
as our only guide throughout this interesting territory ; and 
the delight afforded by an internal evidence of truth, in every 
instance where fidelity of description could be ascertained by 
a comparison with existing documents, surpassed even all 
we had anticipated. 

It was upon the Mount of Olives that the Messiah deliv- 
ered His prediction concerning the downfall of Jerusalem. 
. . . The text of the Evangelist, Luke, proves that our 
Saviour, when He had delivered the prophecy, was " at the 
descent of the Mount of Olives," although in such a situation 
that He beheld the city and wept over it. . . . As we 
descended from the mountain we visited an olive-ground, 
always noticed as the Hortus Olivite, or Garden of Geth- 
semane. This place is, not without reason, shown as the 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 85 

scene of our Saviour's agony the night before His crucifixion, 
both from the circumstances of the name it still retains, 
and its situation with regard to the city. — Pages 138, 355, 
and 365, Volume IV, of " Travels in Various Countries of 
Europe, Asia, and Africa" by E. D. Clark. 



SIR ANDREW CLARK, 

C7\ .£> President of the Royal Society of Physicians. (1826-1893.) 

TVT'O one with any wide experience, such as my own, can 
doubt how vast, how terrible, how far-reaching, are 
the sins and sufferings of men to-day, as they have 
been in all days; no one can doubt for a moment, 
whatever be his creed, that human remedies have been tried 
and failed. No one can doubt who has had adequate opportu- 
nities of observation, adequate powers of reflection, that there 
is one remedy, and One alone, for all spiritual diseases, and that 
remedy is to be found in the person and work of Jesus 
Christ. — Page 33, " Report of the Christian Evidence Society" 
London, 1890. 




THOMAS CLARKSON, 

English Reformer and Author. (1760-1846.) 

*HE Author of our religion was the first who taught 
that however in a legal point of view the talent of 
individuals might belong exclusively to themselves, 
so that no other person had the right to demand the 
use of it by force, yet in the Christian dispensation they 
were the stewards of it for good. ... To Christianity 
alone are we indebted for the new and sublime spectacle of 
seeing men go beyond the bounds of individual usefulness to 
each other — of seeing them associate for the extirpation of 
private and public misery — as a united brotherhood, into 
distant lands. — Chapter I, Volume I, "Clarksorfs Abolition of 
the Slave Trade." 



86 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

MATTHIAS CLAUDIAS, 

German Poet. (1743-1815.) 

O one ever thus lived as Christ lived, nor did any- 
thing so truly great and good as the Bible tells us 
of Him ever enter into the heart of man. It is a 
holy form which rises before the poor pilgrim like a 
star in the night, and satisfies his innermost craving, his most 
secret yearnings and hopes. — Brief an Andres, Part VI. 





CASSIUS MARCELLUS CLAY, 

Statesman; Diplomat to Russia under Presidents Lincoln 
and Grant. 

HE Bible, the record of Divine Revelation, is the one 
Book of religion and morals. 

Of all religious systems the Christian is most in 
unison with the law of God and the needs of man. 
The spirit of God inspires all living things. Jesus Christ 
is the leading inspiration, and is, therefore, Divine. 

The representatives of the great living religions of the 
world did much to lift man from Paganism to a higher ap- 
preciation of God and nature. But Christ did more than all: 
teaching salvation, chastity, humanity, justice, charity ! 
Love thy God with all thy heart and soul, and thy neighbor 
as thyself, is the base of the family, the State, and the 
Church ; the evolution of all moral science, civilization, and 
human happiness. 



9^//^^ 4%. c^aU^^/ZP£<iy « 



I will die as becomes a Christian ! I declare, before God 
and man, that I have never betrayed my country ; may my 
death render her happy. Vive la France ! My comrades 
fire on me ! — Last words of Marshal Ney. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



87 




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tjjjjfl 


l§gj|ly 


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J^ 







HENRY CLAY, 

United States Senator. (1777-1852.) 

AM not afraid to die, 

sir; I have hope, 

faith, and some 

confidence. I have 
abiding trust in the 
merits and mediation of 
our Saviour. 

The vanity of the world, 
and its insufficiency to sat- 
isfy the soul of man, has 
been long a settled convic- 
tion of my mind. Man's 
inability to secure by his 
own merits the approbation of God, I feel to be true. I 
trust in the atonement of the Saviour of mercy, as the 
ground of my acceptance and of my hope of salvation. 
— The first testimony to Congressman Venable, and the second 
to Congressman John C. Breckinridge, as declared in their 
obituary addresses on the occasion of the death of the H071, 
Henry Clay, delivered in the Senate and in the House of Rep- 
resentatives of the United States, June 30, 1852. 

Eighteen hundred years have rolled away since the Son 
•of God, our blessed Redeemer, offered Himself on Mount 
Calvary for the salvation of our species; and more than 
half of mankind still continue to deny His Divine mission 
and the truth of His sacred Word. . . . When we shall, 
as soon we must, be translated from this into another form 
of existence, is the hope presumptuous that we shall behold 
the common Father of the whites and blacks, the great 
Ruler of the Universe, cast his all-seeing eye upon civilized 
and regenerated Africa, its cultivated fields, its coasts 
studded with numerous cities, adorned with towering tem- 
ples dedicated to the pure religion of his redeeming Son ? — 
Taken from a speech before the Kentucky Colonisation Society, 
at Frankfort, 1829. 




88 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS, 

(MARK TWAIN.) 

Humorist and Author. 

sT is hard to make a choice of the most beautiful passage 
in a Book which is so gemmed with beautiful passages 
as the Bible. . . . Who taught these ancient writ- 
ers the simplicity of language, their felicity of expres- 
sion, their pathos, and, above all, their faculty of sinking 
themselves entirely out of sight of the reader and making the 
narrative stand out alone and seem to tell itself? Shake- 
speare is always present when one reads his book ; Macaulay 
is present when we follow the march of his stately sentences ; 
but the Old Testament writers are hidden from view. 

We dismounted on those shores which the feet of the 
Saviour had made holy ground. . . . We left Capernaum 
behind us. It was only a shapeless ruin. It bore no sem- 
blance to a town. But, all desolate and unpeopled as it was, 
it was illustrious ground. From it sprang that tree of Chris- 
tianity whose broad arms overshadow so many distant lands 
to-day. Christ visited his old home at Nazareth, and saw 
His brothers Joses, Judas, James, and Simon. . . . Who 
wonders what passed in their minds when they saw this 
brother (who was only a brother to them, however He might 
be to others a mysterious stranger; who was a God, and had 
stood face to face with God above the clouds) doing miracles, 
with crowds of astonished people for witnesses ? 

One of the most astonishing things that has yet fallen under 
our observation is the exceedingly small portion of the earth 
from which sprang the now nourishing plant of Christianity. 
The longest journey our Saviour ever performed was from 
here to Jerusalem — about one hundred to one hundred and 
twenty miles. The next longest was from here to Sidon — 
about sixty or seventy miles. . . . Leaving out two or 
three short journeys, He spent His life, preaching His Gospel, 
and performing His miracles, within a compass no larger than 
an ordinary county of the United States. ... In the 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 89 

starlight, Galilee has no boundaries but the broad compass of 
the heavens, and is a theatre meet for great events ; meet for 
the birth of a religion able to save the world ; and meet for 
the stately figure appointed to stand upon its stage and pro- 
claim high decrees. — Pages 492, 499-502, and 513, "The In- 
nocents Abroad, or the New Pilgrims'' Progress" by Mark 
Twain — Samuel L. Clemens. 



CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN, 

Journalist (War Correspondent), Popular Lecturer, and Author. 

ACCEPT the Bible because it contains, immeasurably 
beyond all other books, moral precepts which are the 
rules of all right conduct ; because it is the founda- 
tion of all just government ; because it tells the truth 
about men; because its spiritual teachings satisfy the long- 
ings of my heart, giving me joy, peace, comfort, rest, and 
hope of a better and larger life beyond the present. 

1 regard Jesus Christ as God in human form ; as revealing 
the character of God to the human race. All my concep- 
tions of justice, righteousness, goodness, truth, love, compas- 
sion, tenderness, forgiveness — all moral qualities and holy 
affections are found in Him. Through Him my fellow men 
become my brothers, and we all may come into sweet and 
holy relations with the Father, and enjoy ineffable spiritual 
blessedness. 

I believe in Jesus Christ as my Saviour, Redeemer, Brother, 
and best Friend. All history centers around Him. He is 
the life and the light of the world — the One absolutely per- 
fect human being of all time — stainless and immaculate in 
everything. His teachings, if followed, will settle all dis- 
putes between man and man — between individuals and 
nations alike; will banish misery and woe, and make the 
world a paradise of happiness. I accept Him for what He 
claimed to be — the Son of God and the Son of Man. 

(Z/tLajM, (LouL&ti^ Ccftp 1 ^ 



90 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

STEPHEN GROVER CLEVELAND, 

Twenty-second President of the United States. 

T the close of the Mohonk Conference, our Commit- 
q\_ tee went to President Cleveland to petition him 




£> 



regarding certain methods. He said that he sympa- 
thized with our plans and ideas; "but," he con- 
tinued, "gentlemen, you may do all you can at Mohonk; I 
may do all I can here in the White House, and Congress may 
do all it can over there, but," (and he then turned and picked 
up a Bible on his desk,) "gentlemen, after all, that Book has 
ofot to settle the Indian Problem." — Charles W. Skelton. 

The citizen is a better business man if he is a Christian 
gentleman, and, surely, business is not the less prosperous 
and successful if conducted on Christian principles. . . . 
All must admit that the reception of the teachings of Christ 
results in the purest patriotism, in the most scrupulous fidel- 
ity to public trust, and in the best type of citizenship. Those 
who manage the affairs of government are by this means 
reminded that the law of God demands that they should be 
courageously true to the interests of the people, and that the 
Ruler of the Universe will require of them a strict account 
of their stewardship. The teachings of both human and 
Divine law thus merging into one word, duty, form the only 
union of Church and state that a civil and religious govern- 
ment can recognize. — Pages 182 and 183, " The Writings and 
Speeches of Grover Cleveland" edited by George F. Parker. 



DAVID HENRY COCHRAN, 

S~^ President of Polytechnic Institute. 



H 



% A 



ESUS Christ is the light of the world, and the Saviour 

of all who may believe in Him; the Bible is the 

h chart of civilization, the Divine Book for human 



needs, and able to make men wise unto salvation. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 91 

SIR EDWARD COKE, 

Lord Chief-Justice of England. (1549-1633.) 

HY kingdom come, Thy will be done. — Last words. 
And yet, by the Providence of Almighty God, 
thongh I was in the greatest danger, yet I had not 
the least hurt at all — nay, no hurt at all. For Al- 
mighty God saith by His prophet David, "The angel of 
the Lord tarrieth round about them that fear Him, and de- 
livereth them" — Et nomen Domini benedictum (the name of 
the Lord is blessed), for it was His work. — Memorandum, 3d 
of May, 1832. See Volume II, of " Distinguished Men of 
Modern Times" published by Charles Knight. 




ALFRED HOLT COLQUITT, 

United States Senator. (1824-1894.) 

BELIEVE it is the mission of the ministers to-day, 

and of Christian laymen in this land, to go out into 

the fields and highways and meet the enemies that 

are seeking to place barriers in the way of Christian 

civilization — to meet the foe as he comes. 

Religion and politics ought to be wedded like a loving 
pair. The spirit of our Master, who preached peace, should 
preside at our diplomatic councils. The love of our neighbor 
and of our friends — these should be the bases, not only of our 
Christianity and our patriotism, but of our daily politics. 

I like to hear learned sermons and magnificent discourses — 
appeals purely to the intellect — abstract and abstruse ideas, 
and all that. But looking at the masses of mankind, and 
reviewing from the standpoint which I occupy, it is clear to 
me that there is a mission given to every lover of Christ to 
stand forth as the propagator of that religion which tempers 
the politics and statesmanship of this country. — Remarks at 
the Evangelical Alliance, Washington, December 7, 1887. 



02 



A CLOUD OF WITNKSSKS. 





SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE, 

English Poet and Metaphysician. (1772-1834.) 

4 S it fitting to run Jesus 
Christ in a silly par- 
allel with Socrates — 
the Being whom 
thousands of millions of 
intellectual creatures, of 
whom 1 am a humble unit, 
take to be their Redeemer 
— with an Athenian phi- 
losopher, of whom we know 
nothing except his glorifica- 
tion in Plato and Socrates? 
— "Specimen of Table-Talk 
qfSatmtel Taylor Coleridge" 
But, above all things, I entreat you, my dear Colson, to pre- 
serve your faith in Christ. It is my wealth in poverty, my 
joy in sorrow, my peace amid tumult. For all the evil I 
have committed, I have found it to be so. I can smile with 
pity at the infidel whose vanity makes him dream that I 
should barter such a blessing for the few subtleties from the 
school of the cold-blooded sophists. — 5*. T. Coleridge in auto- 
graph letter in Wellesley College library. 

1 receive, with full and grateful faith, the assurance of 
Revelation, that the Word, which is from eternity with God, 
and is God, assumed human nature, in order to redeem me 
and all mankind from our connate corruption. I believe 
that the assumption of humanity by the Son of God was 
revealed to us by the Word made flesh, and manifested to us 
in Jesus Christ, and that His miraculous birth, His agony, 
His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension were all both 
symbols of redemption and necessary parts of that awful 
process. — Page 104, "Studies in Poetry and Philosophy" by 
J. C Shairp) Principal of the United Colleges of St. Salva- 
dor and St. Leonard. 




JESUS AND THE RULER'S DAUGHTER. 



HE taketh the father and the mother of the damsel . . . and entereth in 
where the damsel was lying. And He took the damsel by the hand, and saith 
unto her, Talithi cumi. which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. 
And straightway the damsel arose and walked; for she was of the age of twelve 
years. And they were astonished. — Mark v, 40, 42. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 93, 

SAMUEL COLGATE, 

Manufacturer and Philanthropist. 

<HE only spiritual light in the world comes through 
Jesus Christ and the inspired Book; redemption and 
forgiveness of sin alone through Christ. Without His 
presence and the teachings of the Bible we would be 
enshrouded in moral darkness and despair. The condition 
of those nations without a Christ, contrasted with those where 
Christ is accepted, reveals so marked a difference that no 
arguments are needed. It is an object-lesson so plain that 
it can be seen and understood by all. May " the earth be 
full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the 



SCHUYLER COLFAX, 

Congressman, Speaker of the Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, and Fortieth 
Congresses. ( 1823-1885.) 



AN derives his greatest happiness not by that 
t lVl_ which he does for himself, but by what he accom- 
f^ plishes for others. This is a sad world at best — a 
world of sorrow, of suffering, of injustice, and fal- 
sification ; men stab those whom they hate with the stiletto 
of slander, but it is for the followers of our Lord to improve 
it, and to make it more as Christ would have it. The most 
precious crown of fame that a human being can ask is to 
kneel at the bar of God and hear the beautiful words > 
"Well done, good and faithful servant." 

Just fifty years ago this fall, in a large city by the sea- 
shore, nearly a thousand miles from here, a lad}-, whose 
husband was dead, took her little boy by the hand, and led 
him to the Sabbath-school. For thirty years afterwards he 
was a scholar or a teacher of the Sabbath-school, and he has 



94 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

never forgotten those instructions of youth. The lady who 
took her little boy to that Sunday-school is now in a hap- 
pier land, but the boy is still living. That lady was my be- 
loved mother, who is with her Father and Saviour in heaven, 
and that little boy was myself. To-day I come to this school 
with my little boy, and his mother with us, that we may 
place his imperfect steps in the path in which my mother 
placed my little feet half a century ago. — Pages 453 and 20, 
"Life of Schuyler Colfax;' by O.f Ho Ulster. 



<T 



. GEORGE COMBE, 

Scottish Phrenologist. (1788-1858.) 

PPOSITION between science and revelation I sin- 



cerely believe to be impossible, when the facts in 
J^ nature are correctly observed, and Divine truth is 

correctly interpreted ; but I put the case thus strongly 
to call the attention of religious persons to the mischievous 
consequences to religion of rashly denouncing, as adverse to 
Revelation, any doctrine professing to be founded on natural 
facts. Every instance in which the charge is made falsely, 
is a gross outrage against Revelation itself, and tends to lead 
men to regard Scripture as an obstacle to the progress of 
science and civilization, instead of being a system of Divine 
wisdom, in harmony with all natural truth. . . . The 
moment a man is penetrated by the love of God in Christ, 
his moral and religious affections become far stronger and 
more elevated. — Pages 349, 351 of the "Constitution of Man, 
Considered in Relation to External Objects" by George Combe. 



I desire to give public testimony to my unbounding faith 
in the saving power of Jesus Christ. — Dying words of Sena- 
tor foseph E. McDonald. 



Lord, have mercy upon me, and take my spirit ! — Last 
words of Edivard VI. 



1 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 95 

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, 

Discoverer of America, and Admiral. (1436-1506.) 

^K)RAISE be to the 
_^ eternal God, our 

Lord, who gives to 

all those who walk 
in His ways victory over 
all things which seem im- 
possible; of which this is 
signally one, for, although 
others have spoken or writ- 
ten concerning these coun- 
tries, it was all conjecture, 
as no one could say that he 
had seen them — it amounting only to this, that those who 
heard listened the more, and regarded the matter rather as a 
fable than anything else. But our Redeemer has granted 
this victory to our illustrious King and Queen and their 
kingdoms, which have acquired great fame by an event of 
such high importance, in which all Christendom ought to 
rejoice, and which it ought to celebrate with great festivals 
and the offering of solemn thanks to the Holy Trinity with 
many sincere prayers, both for the great exaltation which 
may accrue to them in turning so many nations to our holy 
faith, and also for the temporal benefits which will bring 
great refreshment and gain, not only to Spain, but to all 
Christians. 

Done on board the Caravel, off the Canary Islands, on the 
fifteenth day of February, fourteen hundred and ninety- 
three. At your orders, The Admiral." 
— Page 321, "Christopher Columbus and his Monument" com- 
piled by /. M. Dickey. 



I have tried to do my duty to my God and my country. I 
feel that the end is so very near. — Dying words of Emperor 
William I. 



g6 a cloud of witnesses. 

JOSIAS PARSONS COOKE, 

Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy 
Cc.n in Harvard College. 

jfevCIENCE, both in its methods and its results, ad- 




dresses the understanding exclusively ; Christianity 
appeals chiefly to the heart. Science aims to in- 
struct ; Christianity aims to persuade. Science is 
attained by study, and is possible only for the few; Chris- 
tianity is a free gift from God to all men who will receive His 
Son. The results of science are fully comprehended, and 
can be expressed in definite terms. The forms of science 
are rapidly changing ; the types and symbols of Christianity 
are permanent. ... I believe the Bible inspired, from 
the grand epic of Creation with which it opens, to the glori- 
ous vision of the New Jerusalem at its close. — Pages 342, 
344, "Religion and Chemistry" by Josias P. Cooke. 




ANTHONY COMSTOCK, 

Reformer; Secretary of the Society for the Suppression 
of Vice. 

iHRIST is all glorious! As the Son of God and the 
Saviour of the world, to Him every knee shall bow and 
^J-/c> every tongue shout for joy. I have no sympathy 
whatever with the scientific, ranting, and vaporous 
discussions which uninspired men are engaged in to the det- 
riment of their fellow men concerning the Bible. In the 
midst of persecutions, misrepresentations, conspiracies, and 
libelous assaults of evil men, oftentimes with the lurking 
assassin dogging my steps, with repeated efforts to take my 
life, attempts to infect the home and office by sending conta- 
gious packages ; in the midst of all these trials, darkness, and 
self-denials of the past twenty years and more, I have found 
the promises of God's Word "Yea and Amen." 

Again, the Bible is like a microscope which reveals to us 
some of the hidden glories of Eternity. It is a search-light 
which, turned upon the soul, reveals its deformities, but turned 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 97 

toward Heaven, portrays the glories of Eternity that await 
tnose who believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. " He that 
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." "God so loved 
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoso- 
ever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting 
life." " God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Him- 
self." What man is there upon earth who realizes for a 
moment the glory of Christ as revealed in the Scripture, who 
does not rejoice that the business of eternity is to glorify 
our Father in Heaven for His great gift to man. 



^^X^A^k^ . 



VICTOR COUSIN, 

Qi/~~ French Metaphysician and Philosopher. ( 1792-1867.) 

}^_ o)LATO knew this love of God well, and expressed it 
_Q in those great words, "Let us say that the cause 

$]y which led the supreme Ordainer to produce and com- 
pose this universe is, that He was good; and he who 
is good has no species of envy." Christianity went further: 
according to the Divine doctrine, God so loved men that He 
gave them His only begotten Son. 

What, in fact, would have been the joy of a Socrates and a 
Plato if they had found the human race in the arms of Chris- 
tianity ! How happy would have been Plato — who was evi- 
dently embarrassed between his beautiful doctrines and the 
religion of his time, who managed so carefully with that 
religion even when he avoided it, who was forced to take 
from it the best part in order to aid a favorable interpretation 
of his doctrine — have been if he had had to do with a relig- 
ion which presented to man, as at once its author and model, 
the sublime and mild Crucified, of whom he had an extraor- 
dinary presentment, whom he almost described in the person 
of a just man dying on the Cross. — Pages 330, 343, " Lectures 
on the True, Beautiful, and the Good" by Victor Cousin. 



98 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 





N1CKOLAUS COPERNICUS, 

Prussian Astronomer. (1473-1543.) 

'OPERNICUS had a pro- 
found reverence for the 
Scriptures. He regarded 
the Word of God able to 
make us wise unto salvation, and 
none of his discoveries pertaining 
to the laws of nature shook for 
one moment his confidence in the 
revelation of the Gospel. Early 
does he appear to distinguish be- 
tween the teaching of the Divine 
oracles as to the redemption of 
the world by Jesus Christ, and those passages which relate 
to the physical facts and appearances to popular apprehen- 
sion. — "Worthies of Science " by the American Tract Society. 



THOMAS McINTYRE COOLEY, 

Jurist, and Lecturer on Constitutional Law, University of 
Michigan. 

REGARD Jesus of Nazareth as having done more to 
advance civilization, and to influence beneficially the 
history of the world, than has any other historic 
character. 

The Bible I have been accustomed to look upon not as 
one Book but as many. The teachings of Jesus and His 
disciples, as given in the New Testament, I think constitute 
a Book more important to the world and more influential in 
reforming and improving the condition of mankind than 
any other. * 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 99 

JOHN MERLE COULTER, 

President of Lake Forest University. 

HAVE always recognized in Jesus Christ the most 
powerful force that has ever been introduced into the 
world of mankind. I have held Him up to my stu- 
dents as the model Man and only Saviour, and His 
doctrines as the clearest and most searching statements of 
ethical and Divine principles ever made. There has been 
none to stand beside Him in the world's history, and the life 
that He points out commends itself to us as the only life 
worth living. 



^4^L 77L, (^£/ZT~. 




ANTHONY ASHLEY COOPER, 

Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury; English Statesman and 
Philanthropist. (1801-1885.J 

>HE sole, the sovereign remedy is to do what we can 
to evangelize the people by preaching on every oc- 
casion and in every place, in the grandest cathedral 
and at the corners of the streets, in the royal palaces 
and in the black slums, Christ to the people; "to know 
nothing among men save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." 
I do believe that preaching Christ is still the power of God 
unto salvation. 

We have heard of one literary gentleman who said that 
the Bible was effete. Let us set up against him a man, I am 
quite sure his equal in literary power and intellectual ability — 
Lord Macaulay. I was in the House of Commons with Lord 
Macaulay, and heard him use these very words: "He who 
speaks or writes a syllable against Christianity is guilty of 
high treason against the civilization of mankind." . . 
But the Bible will overthrow all that; and though for a time 
their works may succeed, though they may disturb many 



TOO A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

unstable hearts, yet a large mass of the population is far more 
reverential, far more inclined to receive the truth than at any 
former period, and out of them will be gathered many thou- 
sands and many hundreds of thousands to the Church of 
Christ who, I have no doubt, at the great day will say : 
"We were rescued, and rescued solely by the great Word of 
God, which is called effete in the same way as God Himself 
is effete — the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." — An ad- 
dress delivered at the eightieth anniversary meeting of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society, London, June, ii 




WILLIAM COWPER, 

English Poet. (1731-1800.) 



JvKSSKD be God, even the God who is to become my 
salvation ; the hail of affliction and rebuke for sin has 
swept away the refuge of lies. It pleased the Al- 
mighty in great mercy to set all my misdeeds before 
me. At length, the storm being past, a quiet and peaceful 
serenity of soul succeeded, such as ever attends the gift of 
lively faith in the all-sufficient atonement, and the sweet 
sense of mercy and pardon purchased by the blood of Christ. 
I have been intimate myself with a man of fine taste, who 
has confessed to me that, though he could not subscribe to 
the truths of Christianity itself, yet he never could read St. 
Luke's account of our Saviour's appearance to the two dis- 
ciples going to Emmaus without being wonderfully affected 
by it; and he thought that if the stamp of Divinity was 
anywhere to be found in the Scriptures, it was strongly 
marked and visibly impressed upon that passage. If these 
men, whose hearts were chilled with the darkness of infidel- 
ity, could find such charms in the mere style of the Scrip- 
tures, what must they find there whose eye penetrates deeper 
than the letter, and who firmly believe themselves interested 
in all the invaluable privileges of the Gospel.-— Pagw 187 
aitd 171, Volume II, u The Life and Works of William Cow- 
far," by Robert Southey. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



IOI 



SAMUEL SULLIVAN COX, 

Congressman, Diplomat, and Popular Speaker. (1824-1880,.) 




From Authors' Portrait Catalogue. 



Copyright, 



by Harper & Brothers. 



BELIEVE in the religion which was taught and ex- 
emplified in the life of the Nazarene, and I never fail 
to bear testimony to the ennobling and purifying in- 
fluence of the Christian religion. 
There was a poignancy in my heart when I saw the old 
church, where I so often worshiped, razed to the ground. 
Was it not there I attended my first Sunday-school ? There 
it was that I learned my Bible verses, and received my red 
and blue tickets for proficiency. There it was that I ac- 
complished the memorable task of reciting all of St. Paul to 
the Romans. . . . Those early memories were cut in 
durable stone. Tarnished by worldliness, dusted with the ac- 
tivities of life, they have pursued me through the various 



102 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

vicissitudes of professional, literary, and political life. They 
became the nucleus of studies in college ; the very coat of 
mail in the struggles against selfishness and scepticism; in 
fine, they prefigured and preordained my choice of spiritual 
belief against the delusive sophistries of new philosophies 
and mere material science. They have enabled me, in fol- 
lowing and studying the physical advancement of the past 
century, to perceive in all the atoms, forms, and forces of 
nature and the phenomena of rnind, the truth and benignity 
of the great scheme of human redemption, which is founded 
on the veracity of Christ, and becomes, with lapsing years, 
more beautiful with the white radiance of an ennobling spir- 
ituality. — See Memorial Addresses published by the United 
States Congress, 1890. 



ABRAHAM COWLEY, 

English Poet. (1618-1667.) 



CHRIST'S PASSION. 



I'LL sing the searchless depths of the compassion divine. 
The depths unfathomed yet 
~QJ By reason's plnmmet, and too short the line ! 
How the eternal Father did bestow 
His own eternal Son as ransom for His foe. 
I'll sing aloud that all the world may hear 
The triumph of the buried Conqueror ; 
How hell was by its prisoner captive led, 
And the great slayer, Death, slain by the dead. 

Methinks I hear of murdered men the voice, 

Mixed with murderers' confused noise, 

Sound from the top of Calvary ; 

My greedy eyes fly up the hill, and see 

Who 'tis hangs there the midmost of the three ; 

Oh, how unlike the others He ! 
Look ! how He bends His gentle head with 

Blessings from the tree ! 

His gracious hands, ne'er stretched but to do good, 

Are nailed to the infamous wood ! 
And sinful man doth fondly bind 
The arms which He extends to embrace all human kind 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. IO3 

JOHN WILSON CROKER, 

British Statesman and Author; Secretary to the Admiralty. 
G\ ^ 1809-1830. (1780-1857.) 

r-Jp^ RANT, we beseech Thee, that the death of our dear 
Z \£X child may awaken us, his unhappy parents, to the 
£p^ prospect of eternal life, . . . and we, with all our 
souls, beseech Thee, O merciful God! to strengthen 
our good intentions, to control our worldly propensities, to 
forgive our past offenses, and by Thy grace so to regulate 
our lives in this perishable world that we may indulge the 
blessed hope of meeting our beloved child where pain and 
death can not come, and where love endureth forever! For 
which we hope and pray through the mediation of our Sav- 
iour, Jesus Christ. Amen. — Page 559, Volume II, "Corre- 
spondence and Diaries of the late Right Honorable John 
Wilson Croker" edited by Louis J. Jennings. 



JOHN PRICE CROZER, 

Manufacturer and Philanthropist. (1793- 1866.) 

HAVE much reason to fear that a fine house and large 
possessions may have retarded my growth in the 
Divine life, and kept me barren and unfruitful. Oh, 
that I were under the law of Christ ; more spiritually- 
minded, and less the servant of sin. Worldly-mindedness, 
alas ! keeps down Christian graces, and blunts the finer facul- 
ties of the soul. Xone but those who have been deeply en- 
gaged in business know how hard it is to keep the mind per- 
fectly balanced so as to avoid yielding to the absorbing con- 
cerns of the world. Well did our Saviour caution us against 
the deceitfulness of riches, and declared how hardly they who 
have them can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. — "Dairy 
Extracts" quoted by Enoch Perrin, in an address at Bucknell 
University, February 22, 1893, on "John P. Crozer as a Busi- 
ness Man" 



104 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 




OLIVER CROMWELL, 

Lord-Protector of the English Commonwealth. (1599-1658. 

'HIS Scripture (Phi- 

lippians 4: 11-13) did 

once save my life, 

when my eldest son, 
Oliver, died — which went as 
a dagger to my heart — in- 
deed it did. It is true, Paul, 
you have learned this, and 
attained to that measure of 
grace ; but what shall I do? 
. . . He that was Paul's 
Christ is my Christ too. — 
Page 221, Chapter 17, 
" Hood's Cromwell" 

Lord, though wretched and miserable, I am in covenant 
with Thee through grace, and I will come unto Thee for my 
people. . . . Make the name of Christ glorious in the 
world. Teach those who look too much on Thy instruments 
to depend on Thyself more. Pardon such as desire to trample 
on the dust of a poor worm, for they are Thine too, and par- 
don the folly of this short prayer, for Jesus Christ, His sake. 
Page 223, Chapter 17, " /food's Cromwell" ; also Chapter 13, 
Volume IV, page 215, "KnighVs England" 







EDWARD CROSSLEY, 

Member of Parliament. 

LOOK upon the interest which we take in Christian 
missions as a test of our interest in Christian truth. 
And it seems to me that such missions have stimu- 
lated our Christian zeal, and called forth new endeav- 
ors and new devotion. The day has long gone by when it 







A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 105 

is necessary to offer an apology for missionary work. Why, 
we need not go very far back to find every reason that we 
can possibly ask for carrying it on with additional energy. 
The Divine Being Himself was the first great Missionary of 
this world, when he walked and talked with Adam and Eve 
in the Garden of Paradise ; and we know that He never left 
this world without a witness, and that the missionary work 
of God culminated in the advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus 
Christ. The work, instead of coming to an end with that 
advent, really and fully began, for Christ makes every one 
of His followers into a missionary. — A speech at Exeter Hall, 
May 12, 1886, on taking the Chair at the ninety-second anni- 
versary of the London Missionary Society. 



EUGENE CRUTCHFIELD, 

Physician. 

^T is my firm conviction, not only that the Bible contains 
the Word of God, but also that it is the Word of God; 
that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and 
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be 
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 

Recognizing the infallibility of the sacred Scriptures, I 
must of necessity believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. 
He is also the Saviour of men, that is, of all such as truly 
repent of their sins, acknowledge Him as Divine, and accept 
of Him as their only hope of salvation. " For there is none 
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we 
must be saved." 



(-^Qji^j^ oO, ~\P/ 





My dear doctor, believe a dying man : there is no salvation 
but in the sacrifice of the L,amb of God. — Samuel Johnson. 



106 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

ALEXANDER CRUDEN, 

Scottish Author of "A Complete Concordance to the Holy 
Scriptures." (1701-1770.) 

, LL other Dooks are of little importance in comparison 
'" with the Holy Scriptures, which are a revelation 




m 



H (C> from God, and are given as the only rule of faith 
and practice. If the kings of Israel were required 
not only u to read the law of Moses all the days of their life, 
but also to write out a copy of it with their own hand, that 
they might learn to fear the Lord their God," it may be rea- 
sonably expected that Christian Princes should make the 
glorious Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 
their daily study. — A paragraph from the Dedication of his 
Concordance to the King. See first pages of Cruderts Con- 
cordance. 

GEORGE M. CURTIS, 

Lawyer. 

HAVE not the slightest doubt of the divinity of Jesus 
Christ, and the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. 
Christianity has educated and civilized the world. 
Salvation bursting from the sepulchre of the Lord 
westward has belted the earth, and it is now returning to the 
cradle of its birth. Napoleon Bonaparte and Daniel Web- 
ster, two of the greatest minds since the morning of time, 
have declared their full faith in the Redeemer. Bonaparte 
affirmed at St. Helena: "I say to you, Jesus Christ was not 
a man — He was God!" Webster declared : "No mortal 
ever could have delivered the Sermon on the Mount ! " Who 
desires more testimony than the evidence of these great 
mortals? 










A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. IO7 

RICHARD CUMBERLAND, 

English Dramatist and Miscellaneous Writer. (1732-1811.) 

HRIST having performed His miracles openly, and 
before so many witnesses, it is not found that the 
matter of fact was ever questioned by any who lived 
in that age ; on the contrary, we see it was acknowl- 
edged by His most vigilant enemies — the Pharisees ; they 
did not deny the miracle ; so weak a subterfuge against the 
evidence of their own sense probably satisfied neither them- 
selves nor others ; if it had, this accusation of sorcery (being 
capital by the law, and also by that of the Romans) would have 
been heard of, when they were so much to seek for crimes, 
wherewith to charge Him on His trial ; if any man shall ob- 
ject that this is arguing out of the Gospels in favor of the 
Gospels. I contend that this matter of fact does not rest 
solely on Gospel evidence but also upon collateral histori- 
cal proof; for this very argument of the Pharisees, and this 
only, is made use by those Jews in whom Celsus brings in 
arguing against the Christian religion ; and those Jews, on 
this very account, rank Christ with Pythagoras; and I chal- 
lenge the cavillers against Christ's miracles to controvert 
what is thus asserted, or to produce any other argument of 
Jewish origin, except this ascribed to the Pharisees by the 
Gospel, either from Celsus, as above mentioned, or any other 
writer. — From "The Miracles of Christ" in Observer, No. 
10. 



THE RIGHT HONORABLE JOHN PHILPOT 

CURRAN, 

Irish Orator and Statesman. (1750-1817.) 

91 ... 

WILL never hear of any attempt to injure their le- 
gal rights. I love their religion ; there is only one 
religion under heaven which I love more than the 
Protestant, but I confess there is one — the Christian 
religion. 



108 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

What is the law of this country? If the witness does 
not believe in God, or a future state, you can not swear him. 
What wear him upon ? Is it upon the Book or the leaf? 
The ceremony of kissing is only the .external symbol by 
which man seals himself to the precept, and says, "May God 
so help me, as I swear the truth." He is then attached to 
the Divinity upon the condition of telling the truth ; and he 
expects mercy from heaven, as he perforins his undertaking. 
But the infidel ! By what can you catch his soul ? or by 
what can you hold it ? He has no conscience, no hope to 
cheer him, no punishment to dread. What is the evidence 
touching that unfortunate young man ? What kind of char- 
acter ? Paine was his creed and his philosophy. His ideas 
of religion were adopted from the vulgar maxims of the same 
man — the scandal of inquiry, the blasphemer of his God. 
He bears testimony against himself, that he had submitted 
to the undertaking of reading both his abominable tracts — 
that abomination of all abominations, Paine's " Age of Rea- 
son "; who professes to teach mankind that he did not learn 
himself! Why not swear the witness upon the vulgar max- 
ims of that base fellow, that wretched outlaw and fugitive 
from his country and his God? — Pages 122 and 278, "Life 
of the Right Honorable John Philpot Cnrran" by his son, 
William Henry Curran. 



GEORGE TICKNOR CURTIS,* 

Lawyer and Author. (1812-1894.) 

WILL touch on one other point in this brief account 
of my religious opinions. Since the revelation 
that came through Christ, there have been, as was 
foretold there would be, other supposed or pretended 
revelations. . . . My answer is, that the argument and 
proofs which sustain the finality of the Christian revelation — 
making it the last communication of God's Word that will 
be made while the human race continues on earth — are so 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 109 

strong that they overthrow the probability of any subsequent 
communication of the same kind. I have heard it argued 
that God is constantly revealing Himself in different ways; 
that new proofs of His power, beneficence, and care for the 
human race are constantly accumulating; that Christ and His 
apostles were men of very humble birth and limited educa- 
tion; that in the course of ages, as the wants of mankind 
seem to the Divine wisdom to require further revelation of 
truth, it would not seem strange if persons of equal humble 
origin were to be selected as the agents through which they 
were to be made, and that there is a priori no reason why a 
succession of such revelations should not occur to the end of 
time. But this kind of reasoning overlooks two very impor- 
tant circumstances, and bases itself upon a priori assumption. 
It overlooks, first, the great fact that the miracles which 
attest the Divine origin of Christianity, — the miraculous birth 
of Christ, the miracles wrought by Him during His life, His 
death and resurrection, — if believed on satisfactory evidence, 
constitute a body of proof that He was truly the Son of God, 
and a Messenger sent from heaven, to which no subsequent 
prophet, or teacher, or supposed instrument of a new revel- 
ation can lay claim. Secondly, the Christian revelation, 
taken as a whole, with all that it comprehends, bears internal 
evidence that it was intended as a finality, because it is so 
complete and consistent; because it satisfies every conceiv- 
able want of the human race ; because it affords, and must 
continue to afford, the means of attaining eternal life. 



^ 



r 3 




* This testimony may be also found in the Novel " Charaxes," pages 273 
and 277, by George Ticknor Curtis, in nom de plume of " Peter Boylston." 



All amusements of that description are but a shadow of 
the pleasure which I enjoy in reading the Bible. — Lady Jane 
Gray. 



i to 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



BARON GEORGES CUVIER, 

French Naturalist. ^1769 1S32.) 



<? 



v 
TVRESH regulations 

c) L \ for the discipline of 

A^ y the churches were 

being devised by him 

just before his death ; and 
when he was removed from 

the world his memory was 
fervently eulogized by the 
French pastors. He pro- 
moted the circulation oi the 
Holy Scriptures, and became 

a Vice-President o( the Bible 

Society, lie was active in the cause ol religious as well as 
secular education; and in a discourse which he delivered at 
the distribution of prizes, instituted for the reward oi virtu- 
ous actions, he, with all the fervor ol a French orator, en- 
forced upon his audience the primary duties oflove to Christ 
and love to man. — Lee's "Memoir . Baron Cuvier" page 
»54« 








GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. 

Author and Journalist. (l8fe| \Sg^.\ 

HAT Jesus has done for humanity" seems to be 
,\ found in the history oi humanity since His life. 
\ N \ That part of the human race among which His 

principles have become the most powerful tra- 
dition, hears his name and is known as Christendom, and it is 
in Christendom that the highest civilization has been reached 
and the most beneficent results for mankind have been 
attained. The spell of His direct personal influence lies not 
Only in the sublime self-renunciation which the story of His 
life reveals, but in the illustration which it gives us that the 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. Ill 

qualities that we call God-like are possible to human nature. 
The person reverenced as God incarnate was, historically, 
an ideally good man. He illustrated in daily living the 
practicability of principles of conduct which every man 
secretly feels to be the highest conceivable, and He is the 
constant rebuke of self-indulgence and the inspiration of the 
loftiest endeavor. It is obvious, of course, that Christendom 
is not, and never has been Christian in the essential sense. 
But the permanent service of Jesus is the standard which 
His only personal career, as recorded, furnishes, and by 
which we measure and test the progress of the race. Con- 
stan tine's cross in the air is still the type of the most celestial 
influence known to us; and it is affirmed by the most imper- 
ishable consciousness of man that, in that sight alone, in 
courageous fidelity to conscience, in self-sacrifice, in sym- 
pathy, in humanity, in unbending integrity, we conquer. — 
Christian Register, December 22, 1887. 




CHARLES WILLIAM DABNEY, 

President University of Tennessee. 

HE best teachers I ever knew were earnest Christians. 
In fact, I have never known a single warm-hearted, 
majestic, soul-stirring teacher who was not a Chris- 
tian. 

As Christ is the corner-stone of our life, so His teachings 
must be the corner-stone of the true education. The true 
teacher loves his fellow men, and this love gives him his 
power. To do this he must first love Jesus and the inspired 
Scriptures, and so be filled with His love. This is the way 
I account for the fact of my life-long observation and study 
of great teachers, viz. : that the most potent soul-builder is 
the soul built on Christ, and His teachings. 



-tf^Ur 637§a^y/^ 



112 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

SIR DAVID DALRYMPLE, 

(LORD HAILES.) 

GVo Scottish Judge and Historian. (1726-1792.) 

/wAy^ a certain literary party in Scotland this question 
\f9\_ was raised: ''Supposing all the New Testaments in 
°i (2)^ the world had been destroyed at the end of the 
third century, could their contents have been re- 
covered from the writings of the first three centuries?" 

Some two months after this occasion, Sir David Dalrymple 
answered the above interrogation as follows: "That ques- 
tion quite accorded with the taste of my antiquarian mind. 
On my returning home, as I knew I had all the writers of 
those centuries, I began immediately to collect them, that I 
might set to work on the arduous task as soon as possible. 
I have been busy these two months searching for chapters, 
half-chapters, and sentences of the New Testament, and have 
marked down what I found and where I found it, so that any 
person may examine and see for himself. I have actually 
discovered the whole New Testament, except seven or eleven 
verses (I forget which), which satisfies me that I could dis- 
cover them also. God concealed the treasures of His Word 
where Julian, the apostate emperor, and the other enemies 
of Christ who wished to extirpate the Gospel from the world, 
would never have thought of, and though they had, they 
never could have effected their destruction. — See Memoirs 
of R. and J. A. Haldane, by Alexander Haldane. 



CHARLES ANDERSON DANA, 

Journalist; Editor of the Sun; and Author. 

BELIEVE in Christianity; that it is the religion taught 
to men by God Himself in Person on earth. I also 
believe the Bible to be a Divine revelation. Chris- 
tianity is not comparable with any other religion. It 
is the religion which came from God's own lips, and there- 







A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 113 

fore the only true religion. The incarnation is a fact, and 
Christianity is based on revealed truth. 

There are some books that are absolutely indispensable to 
the kind of education that we are contemplating, and to the 
profession that we are now considering; and of all these, the 
most indispensable, the most useful, the one whose knowl- 
edge is most effective, is the Bible. There is no Book from 
which more valuable lessons can be learned. I am consid- 
ering it now as a manual of utility, or professional prepar- 
ation, and professional use for a journalist. There is no Book 
whose style is more suggestive and more instructive, from 
which you learn more directly that sublime simplicity which 
never exaggerates, which recounts the greatest event with 
solemnity, of course, but without sentimentality or affectation, 
none which you open with such confidence and lay down 
with such reverence; there is no Book like the Bible. When 
you get into a controversy and want exactly the right an- 
swer, when you are looking for an expression, what is there 
that closes a dispute like a verse from the Bible? What is 
it that sets up the right principle for you, which pleads for a 
policy, for a cause, so much as the right passage of the Holy 
Scripture? 






JOHN w. DAVIS, 

Late Governor of Rhode Island. 



^HE evidence of the divinity of Jesus Christ is cumu- 
lative both in His testimony and with time, and in 
entire accordance with the Holy Scriptures, which 
testify of Him. " The Word of the Lord endure th 
forever." 




114 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JAMES DWIGHT DANA, 

Geologist and Mineralogist. 

HIS grand old Book of God still stands, and this old 
earth, the more its leaves are turned over and pon- 
dered, the more it will sustain and illustrate the 
sacred Word. 

I believe the record to be Divine. I believe not only the 
first verse to be true, but each verse to be worthy of its place 
in the Bible. I would not separate the first verse from its 
pronounced theism and call the next an adapted fable, 
meaning thereby that it is little worth studying and inter- 
preting ; for I find no evidence of this in the chapter itself, 
which has God's approbation stamp on each day's work, nor 
even in the events announced when viewed with the aid of 
modern science. If the narrative must be regarded as one of 
several documents that are compiled to make up the early por- 
tion of the Bible, as some Biblical scholars hold, I would still 
claim for it a place among the earliest and most extraordinary 
of historical records, and none the less Divine, none the less 
worthy of study. . . . The degree of accordance between 
science and the Bible which has been made out should satisfy 
us of the Divine origin both of nature and the Bible. . . . 
The stately review of the ages making the introduction to 
the Bible, stands there as the impress of the Divine hand on 
the leaf of the sacred Book. . . . But the sure word of 
prophecy is given in the inspired Book which came as a se- 
quel to the volume of nature to be man's special guide to life 
and immortality. — Quoted from his lecture before the students 
of Yale College, and published in the Old and New Testament 
Student. 

I take a step in the dark, but not into the dark. — Cowper's 
last words. 

Dying words of Wilberforce : "Read the Bible! Read the 
Bible!" 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 115 

SIR HUMPHREY DAVY, 

English Chemist. (1778-1829.) 

,F all the religions which have operated upon the human 
mind, Christianity alone has the consistent character 
JklP of perfect truth; all its parts are arranged with the 
most beautiful symmetry; and its grand effects have 
been constantly connected with virtuous gratification, with 
moral and intellectual improvement, with the present and 
future happiness. — Page 272, "Encyclopedia of Literary and 
Scientific Anecdotes" by William Kiddie. 

I should prefer a firm religious belief to every other bless- 
ing, for it makes life a discipline of goodness; creates new 
hopes when all earthly hopes vanish ; throws over the decay, 
the destruction of existence, the most gorgeous of all lights ; 
awakens life even in death ; from corruption and decay calls 
up beauty and divinity, and makes the very Cross, that 
instrument of torture and of shame, the ladder of ascent to 
Paradise. — "Salmonia, or Days of Fly-fishing" by Sir Hum- 
phrey Davy. 

NOAH KNOWLES DAVIS, 

Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of Virginia. 

>HB greatest philosopher of modern times tells us 
that an organism is a whole whose parts are all mu- 
tually means and ends. The great creation, the 
spiritual and material universe, seems to me an or- 
ganism. Body is for spirit, and spirit is for body. But 
the question arises, For what is the universe? Without an 
end beyond itself, it is an incomplete, an imperfect organ- 
ism. Its end is Christ ! The universe is for Christ, and 
Christ is for the universe. Neither, apart from the other, is 
sufficient ; they are complementary, and together constitute 
a finished, organic whole. Scripture is a temporary link, 
binding together humanity and Christ. 




tJfcsz^c. 3. 



c^yi^ud 



Il6 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

DANIEL DEFOE, 

English Novelist; Author of "Robinson Crusoe." (i66i?-i73i.) 

N what glorious col- 
ors do trie Scrip- 
tures, upon all oc- 
casions, represent 
these two hand-in-hand 
graces, faith and repent- 
ance? There is not one 
mention of faith in the 
whole Scriptures but 
what is recommended in 
some way or other to our 
admiration, and to our 
practice ; it is the founda- 
tion and the top-stone of 
all religion, the right- 
hand to lead, and the left-hand to support, in the whole 
journey of the Christian, even through this world, and into 
the next ; in a word, it is the sum and substance of the Gos- 
pel foundation. 

How incongruous is it to the decoration of the government, 
that a man should be punished for drunkenness and set in 
stocks for swearing, but shall have liberty to deny the God 
of Heaven, and dispute against the very sum and substance 
of the Christian doctrine ; shall banter the Scripture, and 
make ballads of the Pentateuch ; turn all the principles of 
religion, the salvation of the soul, the death of our Saviour, 
and the revelation of the Gospel into ridicule. And shall we 
pretend to reformation of manners, and suppressing immor- 
talities, while such as this is the general mixture of conversa- 
tion ? If a man talk against the government, or speak 
scurrilously of the King, he is led to the old Bailey, and from 
thence to the pillory, or whipping-post, and it should be so; 
but he may speak treason against the Majesty of Heaven, 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 117 

deny the Godhead of the Redeemer, and make a jest of the 
Holy Ghost, and thus affront the Power we all adore, and yet 
with impunity. — Pages 187 and 102, Volume III, U A Selec- 
tion from the Works of Daniel Defoe" 



ALIGH1ERI DANTE, 

Italian Poet. (1265-1321.) 




THE INSPIRED WORD. 

O Him who subtilizes thus with me, 

There would assuredly be room for doubt 
Even to wonder, did not the safe Word 
Of Scripture hold supreme authority. 

— Canto xix in "The Poet's Vision of Hell. 



HIS RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 

I in one God believe ; 
One sole eternal Godhead, of whose love 
All heaven is moved, Himself unmoved the while. 
Nor demonstration physical alone, 
Or more intelligential and abstruse, 
Persuades me to this faith : but from that truth 
It comes to me rather, which is shed 
Through Moses ; the rapt Prophets ; and the Psalms 
The Gospels ; and what ye yourselves did write, 
When ye were gifted of the Holy Ghost. 
In three eternal Persons I believe ; 
Essence threefold and one ; mysterious league 
Of union absolute, which, many a time, 
The Word of Gospel lore upon my mind 
Imprints ; and from this germ, this firstling spark, 
The lively flame dilates ; and, like heaven's star, 
Doth glitter in me. 

— Canto xxiv in " The Poet's Vision of Hell." 



God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on 
me ! Farewell, my dear wife, farewell ! — Last words ever 
-written by Hugh Miller. 



n8 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



SIR JOHN WILLIAM DAWSON, 

President of McGill College ; Canadian Geologist and Naturalist. 

AM fully of the 
opinion that it is 
only by receiving 
the testimony of 
the Bible to Christ, and 
the testimony of Christ 
to the Bible, in their in- 
tegrity, that the highest 
interests of man can be 
secured. 

If we look up with ador- 
ing wonder to the material 
universe, the Bible leads 
us to see in this the pow- 
er and Godhead of the 
Creator, and the Creator as the living God, our Heavenly 
Father. If we seek for an ideal humanity to imitate, the 
Bible points us to Jesus Christ, the perfect Man, and at the 
same time the manifestation of God, the good Shepherd giv- 
ing His life for the sheep, God manifest in the flesh, and 
bringing life and immortality to light. Thus the Bible gives 
us all that these modern ideas desiderate and infinitely more. 
Nor should we think less of the older parts of Revelation, 
for it gives the historical development of God's plan, and is 
eminently valuable for its testimony of nature and of God. 
. . . The lesson of these facts is to hold to the old faith, 
to fear no discussion, and to stand fast for this world and for 
the future on this grand declaration of Jesus : " God so loved 
the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoso- 
ever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life." 




From Authors' Portrait Catalogue.— Copyright, 
Harper & Brothers 





A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 119 

CHAUNCEY MITCHELL DEPEW, 

Lawyer, Popular Orator, and President of the New York Central and 
Hudson River Railroad Company. 

J3E following letter, in response to an inquiry as to 
the address which appears below, and delivered be- 
fore the Nineteenth Century Club, of New York, 
discloses the loyalty of the speaker to the religion of 
his mother : 

New York, February 7, 1891. 
My Dear Sir : I am in receipt of yours of February 2d. 
The quotation which you attach to your letter, and which 
I reinclose to you, was an extemporaneous response that I 
made at a meeting to an attack on the Bible by some famous 
atheist. w] n \ 





I never felt so absolutely out of place. I am a practical 
man, overwhelmed with the cares of business. It is exceed- 
ingly difficult for me to get on the plane of philosophic 
thought. I believe in the Old Testament and the New Tes- 
tament precisely as they are presented by Christianity. It 
was the atheism of France that taught license for liberty and 
led to the French Revolution. Where are those old philoso- 
phies and old philosophers ? They are dead, while Chris- 
tianity survives. The school of atheism led to despair. 
Materialism soon found that every violation of the moral law 
could go on consistently with its teachings. So pantheism 
and positivism have followed, only to be destroyed ; and now 
we have the school of humanity and the cosmic philosophy 
coming close to the borders of Christianity. 

They tell us there is no more Creator — only a cosmic dust. 
Who made the dust? There is only protoplasm indeed. 
Who made protoplasm ? They tell of evolution from dust 
to monkey, and then to man ; but all the scientists have 
never found the missing link. The simple Gospel of the 



120 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

humble Son 01 a carpenter, preached by twelve fishermen, 
has survived the centuries, and outlives all other philoso- 
phies of 1800 years. 

I am not posted in the terminology of the philosophies. I 
believe them to be of little use to reach the heart and 
influence the actions of simple men. There is no liberty 
that lasts in the world, and there is no government which 
has liberty in it that lasts that does not recognize the Bible. 
What is the object of all the theology? It is to reach the 
human heart and to control the actions of men as they are. 

How many of us can even understand what the philoso- 
pher says? You might take the whole Stock Exchange and 
read Kant to them, and it would be wholly incomprehensi- 
ble to them. Not so with the teachings of the Golden Rule. 
They could understand at least what that means. They tell 
us that God must disappear ; that prayer is begging; that 
Holy Communion is cannibalism. When did such a religion 
send out a missionary? When you show me a colony of 
10,000 people who have come to live decently by its teach- 
ings, I may believe it. But I say now that the Christian 
faith of my mother is good enough for me. If we believe 
this faith, what harm? If we disbelieve it, and thereby do 
wrong, what of our future ? 

We celebrate the emancipation of man The 

Cross on Calvary was hope ; the cross raised on San Salvador 
was opportunity. But for the first, Columbus would never 
have sailed ; but for the second, there would have been no 
place for the planting the nurture and the expansion of civil 

and religious liberty The wise men traveled 

from the East toward the West under the guidance of the 
Star of Bethlehem. The spirit of equality of all men before 
God and the law moved Westward from Calvary with its 
revolutionary influence upon old institutions to the Atlantic 
Ocean. . . . The first-born of the marvelous creation 
of these primitive printers of Mayence was the printed 
Bible. . . . The force, however, which made possible 
America, and its reflex influence upon Europe, was the open 



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JESUS AND THE WIDOWS SON. 



WHEN He came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man 
carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow ; and much 
people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion 
on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And He came and touched the bier: and 
they that bear him stood still. And He said, Young man, I say unto thee, arise. 
And he that was dead sat up and began to speak. And He delivered him to his 
mother. — Luke vii, 12-15. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 121 

Bible by the fireside. 7 . . His unshaken faith that 
Columbus was commissioned from Heaven, both by his 
name and by His Divine command, to carry " Christ across 
the sea "to new continents and pagan peoples, lifted him 
above the discouragements of an empty purse and of a con- 
temptuous court. . . . He died as he was securing the 
means and preparing a campaign for the rescue of the Holy 
Sepulchre at Jerusalem from the infidel. He did not know 
what time has revealed — that the mission of the Crusade of 
Godfrey of Boullon and Richard of the Lion Heart was a 
bloody and fruitless task ; the discovery of America was the 
salvation of the world. The one was the symbol, the other 
the spirit; the one death, the other life. The tomb of the 
Saviour was a narrow and empty vault, precious only for 
its memories of the supreme tragedy of the centuries, but 
the new continent was to be the home and temple of the liv- 
ing God. . . . Religion has flourished, churches abound, 
the ministry is sustained, and millions of dollars are con- 
tributed annually for the evangelization of the world. The 
United States is a Christian nation, and a living and prac- 
tical Christianity is the characteristic of its people. — Selec- 
tions from his oration at the dedication of the World's Colum- 
bian Exposition, Chicago, October 21, 1892. 



JEAN ANDRE DELUC, 

Genevese Geologist and Meteorologist. (1727-1817.) 

*HE Scripture teaches that the man whom God created 
good became a transgressor, and the death which he 
deserved by his disobedience will be taken away, and 
eternal life be prepared for him . . . that finally 
the Son of God, the Prince of Life, had to take upon Him- 
self our human nature, and a mortal body like ours, that He 
might suffer and die in this body and rise for our righteous- 
ness. Very many say freely, that it is incomprehensible ; I 
do not wonder at them, for I have no hope of understanding 




122 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



it in this life. But I firmly believe that it is true, because 
the Holy Scripture teaches me so, and I say with the Apostle 
Paul, who expressly calls religion a mystery : u O, the depth 
of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God ! 
How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past 
finding out!" Romans 11:33. — P a g e I 7 I °f kis -work on 
" The Foundation of Theology, Theodicy, and Morality." 



THOMAS DENMAN, 

Lord Chief-Justice of England. (1779-1854.) 



VERSES ON THE SLAVE TRADE AND THE 
PRESS. 

GREAT and venerable name, 

Albion ! illuminated by Gospel light ; 
Boasting to build a deathless fame 

On the deep-rooted rock of Right ; 
Proud in Opinion's golden chain 

The admiring nations' hearts to bind, 
And holding forth by moral reign 

A faultless model for mankind — 
How shall that triple bond outlast 

The dark resolve, the fatal hour 
Which sees thee 3-ield the glorious Past 

To sordid Wealth, or baser Power? 

O Thou whose equal eye surveys 

Unhappy Afric's realms undone, 
From the abyss of misery raise 

These brethren of Thy only Son ! (1) 
O Thou, all wise, all just, all good, 

Deign to suppress Thy wrath Divine ; 
Forbear to visit, for the blood 

By Moloch poured on Mammon's shrine ! 
Quench not the flood of honest shame ; 

Touch reckless hearts with love again ; 
Eet Christians still deserve their name, 

And men remember they are men. 
(1) "■Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my breth- 
ren, ye have do?ic it unto Me" — Matthew, 25 : 40. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 123. 

THOMAS DEQUINCY, 

English "Writer; Author of "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater." 

(1785-1859.) 

,HE first class, the evidential miracles, are all those 
which were performed merely as evidences (whether 
simply as indications, or as absolute demonstrations) 
of the Divine power which upholds Christianity. 
The second class, the constitutional miracles, are those which 
constituted a part of Christianity. Two of these are abso- 
lutely indispensable to Christianity, and can not be separated 
from it even in thought, viz., the miraculous birth of our 
Saviour, and His resurrection. The first is essential upon 
this ground: that unless Christ had united the two natures 
(Divine and human) He could not have made the satisfaction 
required. For, try it both ways: not being human, then 
indeed, He might have had power to go through the myster- 
ious sufferings of the satisfaction ; but how would that have 
applied to man? It would have been perfect, but how would 
it have been relevant ? Now try it the other way : not being 
Divine, then, indeed, any satisfaction He could make would 
be relevant ; but fhow would it have been possible in a being 
Himself tainted with frailty? It is an argument used by 
Christianity itself: that man can not offer satisfaction for 
man. The mysterious and supernatural birth, therefore, were 
essential as a capacitation for the work to be performed, 
and, on the other hand, the mysterious death and conse- 
quences were essential as the very work itself. — Phots 174 
mid 175 of Dc Quine/s iK Theological Essays ■," Volume I. 



Victor Duruy, French Historian and Minister of Educa- 
tion, in his " History of Rome, and the Roman People," page 
544, speaks of the Psalms as " that lyric poetry of the He- 
brews, the most beautiful that the world has ever known," 
and of the Saviour as u the Christ, the Son of God, Himself 
the very God." 



124 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

GABRIEL ROMANOVITCH DERZHAVIN, 

Russian Poet, and Secretary of State under Catherine II. (1743-1816.) 




CELESTIAL SABBATH. 

Sung at Midnight in Creek Churches a week before Easter 
Morning. 

^HE golden palace of my God, 

Towering above the clouds, I see ; 
Beyond the cherubs' bright abode, 

Higher than angel's thoughts can be. 
How can I in those courts appear 

Without a wedding garment on ? 
Conduct me, Thou Life-Giver, there — 

Conduct me to Thy glorious throne ! 
And clothe me with Thy robes of light, 
And lead me through sin's darksome night, 

My Saviour and my God ! 




ANTOINE ISAAC SYLVESTRE DE SACY, 

Pen French Orientalist. (1758-1838.) 

^VOMK of the ablest historians, antiquarians, and lin- 
guists now living on the continent of Europe are 
firm believers in Divine Revelation. We may men- 
tion Prof. Charles Ritter, of Berlin, probably the first 
geographical writer of the present or any other age, who is 
no less remarkable for his unaffected piety than for his pro- 
found and various learning. The late Baron De Sacy, the 
acknowledged head of oriental scholars, was not ashamed, in 
the midst of an evil and atheistic generation, to profess his 
cordial trust in the Saviour of the world. " If my conduct," 
he says, "has not always been, as I humbly acknowledge, 
conformable to the sacred rules which my faith enjoins, those 
faults have never been with me the effect of any doubt of the 
truth of the Christian religion, or of its Divine origin. I 
firmly trust that they will be forgiven me through the mercy 
•of my Heavenly Father, in virtue of the sacrifice of Jesus 






A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



125 



Christ, my Saviour; not putting my confidence in any merit 
of my own, and confessing from the bottom of my heart that 
in myself I am nothing but weakness, misery, and wretched- 
ness. " — - [sialic Journal, I 'olimic II ', page 193. 



CHARLES DICKENS, 

English Novelist. (1812-1870.) 





HIS clause appears 
in his will : " I com- 
mit my soul to the 
mercy of God 
through our Lord and Sav- 
iour Jesus Christ, and I ex- 
hort my children to try and 
guide themselves by the 
teachings of the New Testa- 
ment in its broad spirit, and 
to put no faith in any man's 
narrow construction of its 
letter here or there. 11 

From a letter to his youngest son, Edward : u Try to do to 
others as you would like to have them do to you ; and do not be 
discouraged if they fail sometimes. It is much better for you 
that they should fail in obeying the greatest rule laid down 
by our Saviour than that you should. I have put a New 
Testament among your books for the very same reasons, and 
with the very same hopes, that made me write an easy ac- 
count of it for you when you were a child, because it is 
the best Book that ever was or ever will be known in the 
world ; and because it teaches you the best lessons by which 
any human creature who tries to be truthful and faithful to 
duty can possibly be guided." 

This is a copy of a letter to his daughter: "As your 



126 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

brothers have gone away, one by one, I have written to 
each such words as I am writing to you, and have entreated 
them all to guide themselves by this Book, putting aside the 
interpretations of men. You will remember that you have 
never at home been wearied about religious observances or 
mere formalities. I have always been anxious not to weary 
my children with such things before they were old enough 
to form opinions respecting them. You will, therefore, un- 
derstand the better that I now most solemnly impress upon 
you the truth and beauty of the Christian religion as it came 
from Jesus Christ Himself, and the impossibility of your go- 
ing far wrong if you humbly and heartily respect it. Only 
one thing more on this head : The more we are in earnest 
as to feeling it, the less we are disposed to hold forth about 
it. Never abandon the wholesome practice of saying your 
own private prayers night and morning. I have never aban- 
doned it myself, and I know the comfort of it." — Mamie 
Dickens, eldest daughter of Charles Dickens, in "What My 
Father Taught Us" Ladies^ Home Journal, February, 1892. 



DIET OF SPIRES, 

(JOHN OF SAXONY, ERNEST OF LUNEBURG, PHILIP OF 

HESSE, WOLFGANG OF ANHALT, 

AND OTHERS.) 

^HIS celebrated Protest," says the Encyclopaedia Brit- 
tanica, "from which comes the name Protestant, is 
one of the noblest documents of Christian history. It 
was signed by John of Saxony, Ernest of Luneburg, 
Philip of Hesse, Wolfgang of Anhalt, among the princes 
and representatives of the free cities." This is a copy of 
the Protest, which, besides its historical interest, serves the 
purpose of this work in giving the declaration of faith of the 
princes above named: 

"Dear Lords, Cousins, Uncles, and Friends: Having re- 
paired to this Diet at the summons of His Majesty, and for 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 127 

the common good of the empire and of Christendom, we 
have heard and learnt that the decisions of the last Diet con- 
cerning our holy Christian faith are to be repealed, and that 
it is proposed to substitute for them certain restrictive and 
onerous resolutions. 

"King Ferdinand and the other Imperial commissaries, 
by affixing their seals to the last Recess of Spires, had prom- 
ised, however, in the name of the Emperor, to carry out sin- 
cerely and inviolably all that it contained, and to permit 
nothing that was contrary to it. In like manner, also, you 
and we, electors, princes, lords, and deputies of the empire, 
bound ourselves to maintain always, and with our whole 
might, every article of that decree. 

"We can not, therefore, consent to its repeal: 

"Firstly, because we believe that his Imperial Majesty (as 
well as you and we) is called to maintain firmly what has 
been unanimously and solemnly resolved. 

"Secondly, because it concerns the glory of God and the 
salvation of our souls, and that in such matters we ought to 
have regard, above all, to the commandment of God, who is 
King of kings, and Lord of lords, each of us rendering Him 
account for himself, without caring the least in the world 
about majority or minority. 

"We form no judgment on that account which concerns 
you, most dear lords, and we are content to pray God daily 
that He will bring us all to unity of faith, in truth, charity, 
and holiness through Jesus Christ, our throne of grace, and 
our only Mediator. 

" But in what concerns ourselves, adhesion to your resolu- 
tion (and let every honest man be judge !) would be acting 
against our conscience, condemning a doctrine that we main- 
tain to be Christian, and pronouncing that it ought to be 
abolished in our states, if we would do so without trouble. 

"This would be to deny our Lord Jesus Christ, to reject 
His holy Word, and thus give Him just reason to deny us 
in turn before His Father, as He has threatened. 

"What! We ratify this edict! We assert that when Al- 



128 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

mighty God calls a man to His knowledge, this man, how- 
ever, can not receive the knowledge of God ! Oh ! of what 
deadly backslidings should we not thus become the accom- 
plices, not only among onr own subjects, but also among 
yours ! 

u For this reason we reject the yoke that is imposed on us. 
And although it is universally known that in our states the 
holy sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord is becom- 
ingly administered, we can not adhere to what the edict pro- 
poses against the sacramentariaiis, seeing that the Imperial 
edict did not speak of them, that they have not been heard, 
and that we can not resolve upon such important points be- 
fore the next council. 

kl Moreover, the new edict declaring the ministers shall 
preach the Gospel, explaining it according to the writings 
accepted by the holy Christian Church ; we think that for 
this regulation to have any value, we should first agree on 
what is meant by the true and holy Church. Now, seeing 
there is a great diversity of opinion in this respect; that 
there is no sure doctrine but such as is conformable to the 
Word of God; that the Lord forbids the teaching of any 
other doctrine ; that each text of the Holy Scriptures ought 
to be explained by other and clearer texts; that this holy 
Book is in all things necessary for the Christian, easy of un- 
derstanding, and calculated to scatter the darkness, we are 
resolved, with the grace of God, to maintain the pure and 
exclusive teaching of His holy Word, such as it is contained 
in the biblical books of the Old and New Testament, with- 
out adding anything thereto that may be contrary to it. 
This Word is the only truth ; it is the same rule of all doc- 
trine and of all life, and can never fail or deceive us. He 
who builds on this foundation shall stand against all the 
powers of hell, whilst all the human vanities that are set up 
against it shall fall before the face of God. 

lk For these reasons, most dear lords, uncles, cousins, and 
friends, we earnestly entreat you to weigh carefully our 
grievances and our motives. If you do not yield to our re- 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 129 

quest, we PROTEST by these presents, before God our only 
Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, and Saviour, and who will one 
day be our Judge, as well as before all men and creatures, 
that we, for us and our people, neither consent nor adhere 
in any manner whatsoever to the proposed decree in any- 
thing that is contrary to God, to His holy Word, to our right 
of conscience, to the salvation of our souls, and to the last 
decree of Spires. 

"At the same time we are in expectation that his Imperial 
Majesty will behave towards us like a Christian prince who 
loves God above all things; and we declare ourselves ready 
to pay unto him, as well as unto you, gracious lords, all the 
affection and obedience that are our just and legitimate 
duty." 

ADOLPHE NAPOLEON DIDRON, 

French Archaeologist. (1806-1867.) 

N stained glass of the thirtieth century, and sculpture 
of the fourteenth, Christ is represented enthroned on 
clouds, and His back supported by a rainbow; the 
Tables of the Law are placed on the Ark of the Cov- 
enant at the left hand, the Book of the Evangelists is lying 
open on an altar at the left, and the New Testament at the 
right hand. This is as it should be ; the Old Testament is 
regarded as the pedestal or groundwork of the Gospel. The 
Old Testament is an anticipatory portrait, of the which the 
New presents the after-model. 

God had promised that a Redeemer should be found to 
expiate the guilt of Adam, and when judged that the fitting 
moment for fulfilling that promise had arrived, He summoned 
His Son, the Divine Word, to be both the organ and agent 
of His supreme will. According to prophecy, the second 
Person of the blessed Trinity replied to this appeal in the 
words of David, " Then said I, lo, I come ! " The Son made 
Himself immediately the messenger of the will of the Father; 



130 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

He offered Himself as a sacrifice for the salvation of the world. 
This act of self-devotion, which was first conceived in Heaven, 
carried into effect on earth, and finally completed where first 
it had originated, has been constantly delineated in works 
of art. 

Another subject which is frequently the theme of represen- 
tation, is the Triumph of Christ after His Ascension. This 
apotheosis, so sublime in conception, and frequently admired 
in treatment, crowns the acts of our Saviour's Divine human- 
ity. The gates of Heaven had been opened to give egress to 
the Word, who went forth to accomplish His mission on the 
earth ; and three and thirty years later they again opened 
to admit the Son of Man, the incarnate God, returning to 
take His place by the side of His Father, whither He is borne 
by saints and angels, the Redeemer of the first, the Sovereign 
of the last. Such is the subject, more or less rich in detail 
and development, which is constantly seen either in painting 
or sculpture upon monuments of mediaeval art. — Pages 16, 
17, 292, and 293, Volume I, "Christian Iconography; or, the 
History of Christian Art in the Middle Ages" by the late 
Adolphe Napoleon Didron, and translated from the French by 
E. J. Milling ton. 



W. P. DILLINGHAM, 



OU ask my opinion of Christ. It is that He was 



Late Governor of Vermont. 

^Xi God manifest in the flesh ; a revelation to us of 
Him in whom we live, and move, and have our 
being; and that through Him death is abolished, 
and life and immortality are brought to light. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 131 

JOHN FORREST DILLON, 

Lawyer; Circuit Judge under President Grant; Author of Legal Works; 
President of the American Bar Association. 

*HE blameless life and matchless doctrines of Jesus 
Christ are sufficient proof of His Divinity ; they are 
the world's best inheritance and its surest hope. 
The moral law, which holds its dominion by Divine 
ordination over us all, and from which evasion or escape is 
impossible, is the eternal and indestructible sense of justice 
and of right, written by God on the living tables of the 
human heart, and revealed in His Holy Word. 



/ 





c^CJ/&lt<^ 




WILLIAM EARL DODGE, Jr., 

Financier and Philanthropist. 

>HE question is one of personal consecration — "what 

is my individual duty?" "What am I doing as a 

citizen of this country, for which Christ died, to help 

on this great work? " 

We want not only to hope that others will take hold and 

organize great works of charity and of good, but we want to 

know what our Saviour, who hath redeemed us, and to whose 

cause we gladly pledge ourselves, has for us to do. 

We shall remember with joy these days of blessed instruc- 
tion, help, and inspiration; and this will be but the beginning 
of a work which, I hope, with God's blessing, will quietly go 
through the land until every dark spot is uncovered, until the 
teachings of Christ our Lord are the life and salvation of 
our country. — Pages 377, 407, and 408, " National Perils and 
Opportunities" 



132 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JOHN ADAMS DIX, 

Major General and Statesman. (1798-1879.) 

BELIEVE in God, and have entire confidence in 
Christ, my Redeemer. I am at enmity with no man. 
I have, from my yonth, been a believer, and be- 
came, many years ago, a member of the Chnrch. My 
mother's affectionate teachings had implanted within me 
grains of devotion which time could not fail to bring forth 
and ripen often. — Pages 281 and 17, "Memoirs" by his son, 
Rev. Morgan Dix. 

PAUL GUSTAVE DORE, 

French Artist. (1833-1883.) 

F you wish to know my religion, I will tell you. It is 
contained in the thirteenth chapter of St. Paul's letter 
to the Corinthians." Then he began quoting, and, to 
the reverend gentleman's amazement, recited it through 
from the beginning to the end, without any hesitation, or 
missing one word. When he had finished, he turned about 
and said, "Have I made any mistakes? and believing in 
that chapter as I do, might I be considered a Christian ? " 
The prompt answer was, "Any person living up to that 
chapter might be called not only a Christian, but Christian- 
issimus." — Page 306, "Life and Reminiscences of Paul Gus- 
tave Dore" by Blanc e Roosevelt. 



WILLIAM HOWARD DOANE, 

Composer of Hymn Music and Philanthropist. 

AM a thorough believer in the blessed Bible, and the 
Christianity it teaches. To me, Jesus Christ is a per- 
sonal Saviour, a daily helper, guide, and friend. The 
man who clings to His arm will be safely led, and will 
continually walk in the light of His smile, and will be filled 
with joy unspeakable. Thrice blessed is he with whom 
Christ abides. 



\AX>f\^r^aAo^^ 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 133 

WILLIAM EARL DODGE, 

Financier and Philanthropist. (1805-1883.) 

HRIST died not only to open the prison doors, but to 
open the palace gate, and give men everlasting life. 
Impelled by this solemn truth, we should say, as we 
look and see men perishing, "Here am I, send me! 
Use me in whatever way I can do the most to save lost sin- 
ners." A saved sinner myself, I can declare that God desires 
not the death of the wicked. He says to all, "turn ye, why 
will ye die?" 

Surely goodness and mercy have followed us all the days 
of our lives. We feel that, under God, we owe all we are to 
the tender, faithful care of our godly parents, who, from 
infancy, dedicated us to God, and by constant Christian 
watchfulness and prayer brought us up in His fear, and re- 
joiced to see us in early youth consecrate ourselves to His 
service — both uniting with the Church the same year. — To 
his children at his golden wedding, "Memorials of William 
E. Dodge '," by D. Stuart Dodge. 



JOSEPH NORTON DOLPH, 

United States Senator. 

BELIEVE that Jesus Christ lived and taught the fun- 
damental doctrines of Christianity on earth; that He 
was sent from God, delivered the will of God, and 
was the Son of God; that the Bible contains the 
Revelation from God to the human race, a sufficient rule of 
faith and practice for man and all things necessary to his 
salvation. Upon the doctrine of the Divinity of Christ rests 
the whole fabric of the Christian faith. If Christ was only 
a man, however beneficial the Christian religion may be, it 
is a myth— the Bible is not the inspired Word of God, and 
man is left in ignorance as to his origin, the object of his 
creation, and his destinv. 




134 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



JOHN DRYDEN, 



English Poet Laureate. (1631-1700.) 




r^ 






THE ATONEMENT. 

OOK humbly upward ; see His will disclose 
The forfeit first and then the fine imposed ; 
A mulct thy poverty could never pay, 
Had not Eternal Wisdom found the way, 
And with celestial wealth supplied the store ; 
His justice makes the fine, His mercy quits the score. 
See God descending in the human frame ; 
The offended suffering in the offender's name. 
All thy misdeeds to Him imputed see, 
And all his righteousness devolved on thee. 






INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE. 



Whence, but from heaven, could men un skill' d in arts, 
In several ages born, in several parts, 
Weave such agreeing truths ? or how, or why 
Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie ? 
Unask'd their pains, ungrateful their advice, 
Starving their gain, and martyrdom their price. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

If on the Book itself we cast our view, 
Concurrent heathens prove the story true ; 
The doctrine, miracles ; which must convince, 
For Heaven in them appeals to human sense ; 
And though they prove not, they confirm the cause, 
When what is taught agrees with nature's laws. 

Therefore, the style, majestic and Divine, 

It speaks no less than God in every line : 

Commanding words, whose force is still the same 

At the first fiat that produced our frame ; 

All faith's beside, or did by arms ascend ; 

Or sense, indulg'd has made mankind their friend. 



135 



WILLIAM DRUMMOND, 

Scottish Poet of Hathornden. (1585-1649.) 



EXTRACTS. 

*ROM top of Olivet such notes did rise 
When man's Redeemer did ascend the skies. 

To God, who sits in highest seat, 

Glory and power given be ; 
To Father, Son, and Paraclete, 

Who reign in equal dignity ; 
Whose boundless power we still adore, 
And sing their praise forevermore. 



JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER, 

Chemist, Physiologist, Author, and Educator. (1811-1882.) 

HE Pentateuch is affirmed to have been written by 

Moses, under the influence of Divine inspiration. 

Considered thus, as a record vouchsafed and dictated 

by the Almighty, it commands not only scientific but 

universal consent. 

"What is truth?" was the passionate demand of a Roman 
procurator on one of the most momentous occasions in his- 
tory. And the Divine Person who stood before him, to whom 
this interrogation was addressed, made no reply — unless, in- 




136 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

deed, silence contained the reply. — In Chapter VIII, of his 
"History of the Conflict between Science and Religion" 

First of all, the Crusades : There had been wrenched 
from Christendom its fairest and most glorious portions. 

. . But perhaps the geographical losses, appalling as 
they were, did not appear so painful as the capture of the 
holy places ; the birthplace of our Redeemer ; the scene of 
His sufferings; the Mount of Olives ; the Sea of Galilee; the 
Garden of Gethsemane ; Calvary ; the Sepulchre. 

From this burning ordeal one Book came out unscathed. 
It was the Bible. It spontaneously vindicated for itself what 
Wicklif in the former times, and Luther more lately, had 
claimed for it. And not only did it hold its ground, but it 
truly became incalculably more powerful than ever before. 
The press multiplied it in every language until there was 
scarcely any cottage in reformed Europe that did not possess 
a copy. — In Chapters IV, VI, Volume II, u History of the Intel- 
lectual Development of Europe," by John W. Draper, Professor 
of Chemistry in the University of New York. 




NEAL DOW, 

Temperance Reformer. 

ESUS CHRIST came into the world when it was 
semi-barbarous, and among a people semi-civilized, 
and yet, without education, without training from 

any earthly source, showed from the very first and 
during all His life, without a moment's weakness, what the 
highest, purest civilization should be. With all the culture 
and religion of our time we cannot imagine any one of 
earthly mould so true as He to the duties God imposed upon 
Him. Calm, dignified, self-possessed, under conditions so 
painful, so dreadful, so beyond any human power of endur- 
ance, that none but Divinity itself could have borne it. I 
have earnest faith in Him as my Saviour, and in the Scrip- 
ture as the revelation of God to a lost world. 






A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



137 



ALBERT DURER, 

German Painter and Engraver. (1471-1528.) 

j^TSfthh secular 

-y5^ rulers should 

^ be car e ful 
these dangerous 
times that they do 
not accept the se- 
duction of men for 
the Word of God; 
for God will not 
have anything taken 
from His Holy 
Word, nor added to 
it. 

Listen, soldier of 
Christ ! ride forth 
beside the Lord 
Jesus, defend the 
truth, and win the 
martyr's crown! 
And if thou here below becomest like thy master, Christ, and 
sufferest shame from lying tongues, and shouldst die a little 
sooner, thou wilt sooner pass from death unto life. — "Life 
of Albert Durer," the Evangelist of Art, by Geo. Wilson, in 
"Short Biographies for the People" Vol.1. 




ANDRE MARIE JEAN JACQUES DUPIN, 

French Lawyer and President of the Chamber of Deputies and of the 
Legislative Assembly. (1783-1865 ) 

S to myself, Jesus Christ is the Man-Qo&. . . . 
God willed that Jesus should be clothed in the 
% Co}* form of humanity (et homo f actus est), and thcit 
He should undergo the lot and sufferings of hu- 
manity. The Son of God, as to His moral state and holy 



m 



I38 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

spirit, He was also, in reality, the Son of Man, for the pur- 
pose of accomplishing the mission which He came upon 
earth to fulfill. . . To the heathen themselves I would 
say : You who have gloried in the death of Socrates, how 
much must you have been struck with wonder at that of 
Jesus ! Ye censors of the Areopagus, how could you under- 
take to excuse the Synagogue, and justify the sentence of 
the Hall of Judgment? Philosophy herself has not hesi- 
tated to proclaim, and we repeat with her : " Yes, if the life 
and death of Socrates were those of a sage, the life and 
death of Jesus were those of a divinity." — " The Trial of 
Jesus before C alphas and Pilate" by Andre Marie Jean 
Jacques Dupin, Advocate and Doctor of Laws. Translated 
from the French by John Pickering, Counselor at Law, and 
President of the American Academy of Arts and Scie?tces. 



DORMAN BRIDGMAN EATON, 

Lawyer and Civil Service Commissioner. 

2)HIIyOSOPHY asks presumptuous questions concern- 
ing the genesis of Christ. Was He a created being ? 
5 p Was He divine ? Did He exist before the foundation 
of the world ? Is the supreme Head of the Universe 
one God absolutely ? or is He made up of three persons, of 
whom Christ is one? These questions expelled the Christian 
spirit, divided the followers of Christ, involved the churches 
in barren and angry contests, led to savage persecutions in 
the name of the Prince of Peace. Yet Christ has been 
judged by the answers to such questions. By reason of 
Adam's sin and fall, they consigned the whole family of man 
to eternal perdition. They presented Christ Himself as equal- 
ly a God and a man and as a literal Redeemer from their 
original sin. They made a profound mystery of the incar- 
nation. They claimed to prove the utter incapacity of man for 
any good thing, and salvation to be by the grace alone. By 






A CLOUD OK WITNESSES. [39 

these speculations also Christ has been judged. Precious be- 
liefs and inspiring hopes, springing from these speculations, 
are still the consolation of millions. , . . That view finds 
the highest possible evidence of the genesis of Christ, and of 
His mission in the world in His character and doings on 
earth, as disclosed in the New Testament — evidence which 
would abide in eternal efficiency even if the whole meta- 
physical theory concerning Him should be rejected. — Chris- 
tian Register, Boston, December 22, 1887. 



ALFRED P. EDGERTON, 

P,^, Late Chairman of the Civil Service Commission. 

^ 2)ERICLKS taught the Athenians only worldly wisdom, 
^ ^ the end being " to seek the praise that grows not old 
and a distinguished sepulchre. " But five hundred 
years after Pericles' teaching, Saint Paul stood in 
Pericles' place in Athens and proclaimed that the people in 
all things were too superstitious, because their altar had the 
inscription "To the unknown God, whom therefore ye igno- 
rantly worship, Him declare I unto you"; and he then de- 
clared to them the God in whom we live, move, and have 
our being. The unwise of the world have taught Pericles' 
belief without God and without a Bible, instead of all of 
Christ's teachings. The ten commandments, the plan of 
salvation, and the Lord's prayer, are better than Pericles' 
orations and all the philosophy of irreligion. My belief is, 
that we and our posterity must be true to the Christian re- 
ligion, live in the fear and love of God, and respect His 
commandments. That such belief is for all peoples in all 



l^h^^^^ 



140 A ci. OU D OF WITNESSES, 

GEORGE MORITZ EBERS, 

German Egyptologist and Author. 

HAVE given years of study to the early youth of 
Christianity, particularly in Egypt, and it affords me 
particular satisfaction to help others to realize how, in 
Hadrian's time, the pure teaching of our Saviour, as 
vet little sullied bv the contributions of human minds, con- 
quered — and could not fail to conquer — the hearts of men. 
Side In- side with the triumphant Faith I have set that noble 
blossom of Greek life and culture, Art, which, in later ages, 
Christianity absorbed in order to dress herself in beautiful 
forms. — From Preface to Volume /, of "The Emperor" by 
fi M. Ebers, author 0/ "Cfarda." 




SIR HERBERT EDVVARDES, 

English Major-General. v iSi 9- iS 6S.) 

AM quite happy. I love God. I trust entirely to 
Jesus. 1 put confidence in Christ, and couldn't do 
more if I lived a thousand years. * 
If 1 were called upon to work out that proposition 
and prevent that Empire (India) from being ultimately lost 
bv internal rebellion, I know well what I should do. . . . 
1 should open the Bible wide, and do what in me lay to teach 
that subject-people Christian views of life. — From a lecture 
: the Young Men's Christian Association of London^ 
Exeter Hall. i860. 

Every other faith in India is decaying. Christianity alone 
is beginning to run its course. It has taken long to plant, 
but it has now taken root, and by God's grace will never be 
uprooted. The Christian converts have already been tested 
by persecution and martyrdom, and stood the test without 
apostacy. And I believe that if the English were driven 
out of India to-morrow, the religion of Christ would remain 
and triumph. — Volume / 7, "Short Biographies for the 

His death bed testimony. See last reference. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 141 

EDWARD VI.. 

King of England. (X537-1553.) 

ORD God, deliver me out of this miserable and 
wretched life, and take- me among the chosen ; how- 
"^o beit, not my will but Thine be done; Lord, I com- 
mit my spirit to Thee ; yet, for Thy chosen's sake, 
send me life and health, that I may truly serve Thee. 0, my 
Lord God, bless my people, and save thine inheritance. . . 
Maintain thy true religion, that 1 and my people may 
praise Thy holy name, for Jesns Christ, I lis sake. — Dying 
prayer; page 330, / 'olume //, of "Chamber's Cyclopedia of 
English Literature" Acme edition* 




OLIVER ELLSWORTH. 

Chiof-Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1796-1801. 
(1745-1807.) 

IS extraordinary endowments, accomplishments as an 
advocate, integrity as a judge, and sincerity as a 
Christian were fitly complemented by a fine personal 
presence and by manners at once plain, unaffected, 
and social. — Page 336, / r olume //, "Appleton's ( yclopesdia of 
American Biography" 

He made an explicit confession of Christianity in his 
youth, and in all his intercourse with the polite and learned 
world he was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. In the 
midst of a multitude of engagements he made theology a 
study, and attended with unvarying punctuality on the wor- 
ship of the sanctuary. The sage whose eloquence had 
charmed the senate, and whose decisions from the bench 
were regarded almost as oracular, sat with the simplicity 
of a child at the feet of Jesus, devoutly absorbed in the mys- 
teries of redemption. His religion was not cold and heart- 
less, but practical and vital. In his last illness he was hum- 
ble and tranquil. He expressed the submission, the views, 
and the consolations of a Christian. — Page 500, " The En- 
cyclopedia of Religions Knowledge" 




142 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

RICHARD THEODORE ELY, 

Professor of Political Economy, University of Wisconsin ; 
Author. 

HE Bible gives something more than a scheme of 
individual salvation. It offers the principles of 
that wise statesmanship which will yet guide the na- 
tions of the world. 
We come upon this wonderful, this marvelous love for 
man which Christ tanght all through the Gospel. It is not 
merely taught by Christ, but it is illustrated by Christ in 
His life until we come to that scene on the cross, when He 
prayed, k ' Father, forgive them, for they know not what they 
do." It is in this dutv to love and serve our fellows that 
I find the most convincing proof of the divinity of Christ. 
I think it is this which reassures me amid the doubts of our 
time. I have no evidence in history to convince me that a 
mere man would have exalted man as Christ did. Rarely 
do modern philosophers, unless inspired by Christianity, rise 
to an exalted conception of man. 







* The last paragraph may be found also in ** Social Aspects of Chris- 
tianity. " by Richard T. Ely. 



THOMAS ERSKINE. 



(? Lord Chancellor of England. ,1750-1823.) 

. TX this stage of the proceedings I shall call for rever- 
ence to the sacred Scriptures, not from their merits, 
unbounded as they are, but from their authority in a 
Christian country; not from the obligations of con- 
science, but from the rules of law. For my own part, gen- 
tlemen, I have been deeply devoted to the truths of Chris- 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 143 

tianity, and my first belief in the Holy Gospel is by no means 
owing to the prejudices of education, though I was relig- 
iously educated by the best of parents, but arises from the 
fullest and most continued reflections of my riper years and 
understanding. It forms at this moment the great consola- 
tion of my life, which, as a shadow, must pass away; and 
without it, indeed, I should consider my long course of health 
and prosperity, perhaps too long and uninterrupted to be 
good for any man, only as the dust which the wind scatters, 
and rather as a snare than as a blessing. Much, however, 
as I wish to support the authority of the Scriptures, from a 
reasonable consideration of them, I shall repress the subject 
at present. . . . The mysterious incarnation of our 
blessed Saviour, which the "Age of Reason" blasphemes in 
words so wholly unfit the mouth of a Christian, or for the ear 
of a court of justice, that I dare not and will not give them 
utterance, Milton made the grand conclusion of " Paradise 
Lost." 

" A virgin is His mother, but His sire 

The power of the Most High ; He shall ascend 

The throne hereditary, and bound His reign 

With earth's wide bounds, His glory with the heavens." 

— From a speech of Thomas Erskine for the prosecution, in 
the proceedings against Thomas Williams for publishing 
Paints "Age of Reason" in the Court of King^s Bench, be- 
fore Lord Kenyon and a special jury, June 24, 1797; page 
653, Volume XXVI, HowelVs St. Tr. 



LEONARD EULER, 

Swiss Mathematician. (1707-1783.) 

HE holy life of the apostles and of the other primitive 
Christians, appear to me an irresistible proof of the 
truths of the religion of Christ. . . . It is only 
motives, therefore, that spirits can be determined to 
that which is good; now, what motives could be proposed to 
the apostles, and other disciples of Jesus Christ, to embrace a 




144 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

virtuous life, more powerful than the instructions of their 
Divine Master, His miracles, His sufferings, His death and 
resurrection, of which they were witnesses. All these start- 
ling events, united to a doctrine the most sublime, must 
have excited in their hearts the most fervent love and the 
most profound veneration for God, whom they could not but 
consider and adore as at once their heavenly Father, and the 
absolute Lord of the universe. . . . The mission, then, 
of Jesus Christ into the world produced in the minds of the 
apostles this disposition so necessary to the attainment and 
the enjoyment of supreme happiness; and that mission still 
supplies the same motives to pursue the same end. We have 
only to read attentively, and without prejudice, the history 
of it, and seriously to meditate on all the events. I confine 
myself to the salutary effects of our Saviour's mission, with- 
out presuming to dive into the mysteries of the work of our 
redemption, which transcends the powers of human under- 
standing. I only remark, that these effects, the truth of 
which we are convinced by experience, could not be produced 
by illusion or human imposture ; they are too salutary not 
to be Divine. — Pages 380-382, Volume /, "Family Library. 
Letters of Euler on different subjects ill Natural Philosophy, 
addressed to a German Princess, with notes, and a life of 
Eider" by David Brewster. 



JEREMIAH EVARTS,* 

Philanthropist. (1781-1831.) 

ERE on this sea I consecrate myself to God as my 
chief good ; to Him as my heavenly Father, infinitely 
kind and tender of His children ; to Him as my loving 
and merciful Redeemer, by whose blood alone I hope 
for salvation; to Him as the Beneficent Renewer and Sanc- 
tifier of the saved. I implore the forgiveness of my numerous 

* Father of William M. Bvarts, whose testimony follows. 







A CIvOUD OF WITNESSES. 145 

and aggravated transgressions ; and I ask that my remaining 
time and strength may be employed for the glory of God, and 
for the good of His creatures. — Pages 515 and 516, "The 
Encyclopcedia of Religious Knowledge" 




WILLIAM MAXWELL EVARTS, 

Lawyer and Statesman. 

EL1GI0N takes care, then, of the people; makes 
them men, makes them free men, makes them 
loyal and faithful to duty, to God, and to society. 
. . . The great Master, in one of His simple 
instructions to the crowd about Him, undertook to establish, 
and, of course, fixed permanently, in the minds of all Chris- 
tians this demarcation. When the coin of the empire of the 
Caesars was brought to Him in order that He might be en- 
tangled in some of those doubts between the authority of 
man and the authority of God, He asked: "Whose image 
and superscription is this?" It was answered that it was 
Caesar's. His instruction was: " Render unto Caesar the 
things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are 
God's." And, now, when our government over a nation, to 
become more powerful than that of the Caesars, thus marks 
out the province of government, who will attempt to dispar- 
age personal freedom in favor of exaggeration of power of 
government? Who seeks to disparage the mass of influence 
that belongs to God? How little is there that belongs to 
government in this free, Christian, instructed, dutiful nation. 
. . . Thus the religion which, in its original and in its 
most distinct condition as a power in human affairs, united 
man in duty to God, yet finds this solemn instruction of one 
of the Apostles: ".If any man loveth not his brother whom 
he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" 
For it is the range and influence in human affairs that brings 
our duty nearest in obligation to our Saviour when we 



146 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

accept the brotnerhood of man as our duty to God. — Ex- 
tracts from his address before the Young MciCs Christian 
Association of Baltimore, January 27, 1887. 

The o-reat mass of our countrymen to-day find in the 
Bible — the Bible in their worship, the Bible in their schools, 
the Bible in their households — the sufficient lessons of the 
fear of God and the loye of man which make them obedi- 
ent servants to the free constitution of their country. — From 
his oration, "What the Age Owes to America," delivered at 
Philadelphia, July 4, 1876. 




LUCIUS FAIRCHILD, 

General, Governor, Diplomat, and Commander-in-Chief 
of the G. A. R. 

HRIST and the Bible are the great moral, intellect- 
ual, and spiritiial forces for the good of the nations 
and the salvation of the races, when properly under- 
stood and appreciated. 




SIR THOMAS FAIRFAX, 



Parliamentary General and Commander-in-Chief During 
the Civil Wars. (1611-1671.I 

\TfTE made his will in 1667, and this is the first clause: 

JLvJL " ln tne name of God, amen, I, Thomas Lord Fair- 

°\y£ fax, Baron of Camroone, being something infirm in 

body, but of perfect memory ^blessed be God), do 

make and ordain my last will and testament in manner and 

form following : First, I commit my soul unto Almighty God 

who created it, but it being by original corruption made an 

unfit offering for His pure and Divine Majesty, I hope, 






A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



147 



through the mercies and by the merits of the precious blood 
of Jesus Christ, my only Saviour and Redeemer (in whom I 
trust), He will make me a fit partaker of that glorious inher- 
itance which He hath prepared for all those who believe in 
Him." — Page 440, " Life of Great Lord Fairfax, Commander- 
in-Chief of the Army of the Parliament of England" by Clem- 
ents R. Markham. 



MICHAEL FARADAY. 



English Chemist and Naturalist. (1791-1867.) 



T is permitted to the 
Christian to think of 
death ; he is even rep- 
resented as praying 
that God would teach him 
to number his days. Words 
are given him: "Thanks be 
unto God, who giveth us the 
victory through our Lord 
Jesus Christ." And though 
the thought of death brings 
the thought of judgment, it 
also brings to the Christian, 
the thought of Him who 
died, who rose again for the justification of those who be- 
lieve in Him. — Walter Jerrold, in "Michael Faraday, Man 
of Science" page 120. 

The Christian who is taught by God (by His Word and 
Holy Spirit) finds his guide in the Word of God, and com- 
mits the keeping of his soul in the hands of God. He looks 
for no assurance beyond what the Word of God can give 
him; and if his mind is troubled by the cares and fears 
which may assail him, he can go nowhere but to the throne 
of grace and to Scripture. No outward manifestation can 




148 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

give either instruction or assurance to him, nor can any out- 
ward opposition or trouble diminish his confidence for Christ 
crucified, to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks 
foolishness ; but to them who are called, Christ the power of 
God and the wisdom of God. The Christian religion is a 
revelation, and that revelation is the Word of God. — George 
Wilson, in " Short Biographies for the People" Volume IV. 




DAVID GLASGOW FARRAGUT, 

Admiral. (1801-1870.) 

.HE frequency of religious sentiment in his letters 
seems somewhat remarkable when we consider that 
he was not a professed Christian till late in life. It 
was probably the result of his early training by his 
mother, which, though she died when he was young, must 
have made an impression that he never lost. When he was 
dangerously ill in Chicago he desired to have a clergyman 
called, saying: "He must be my pilot now!" He once re- 
marked, when speaking of navigating a ship, that he "never 
felt so near his Master as he did when in a storm, knowing 
that on his skill depended the safety of so many lives." — 
Page 548, "Life and Letters of Admiral D. G. Farragut" 
by his son, Loyall Farragut. 



JOHN VILLIERS FARWELL, 

\\j , 9 Financier and Philanthropist. 

^HRIST is the "Alpha and Omega" of all that is worth 
^J living for, here or hereafter — "the bright morning 
y-Q^ star" of all man's hopes. Without His life, death, 
resurrection, and ascension, human existence would 
be an enigmatical farce, nay, a dreadful tragedy, without ex- 
cuse, if a God of justice is his Maker. The Bible is an 
electric lighthouse on the two bleak shores of time to re- 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 149 

veal Jesus Christ as the inspiration of our hopes in the 
beginning, to be the fruition of them at the end of the voy- 
age, — if so be that they are worthy to ravish a soul created 
in the image of his Maker. 




f.4^^rdL 



CYRUS WEST FIELD, 

<\ ^ Projector of the Atlantic Cable. (1819-1892.) 

L feTTY brother Cyrus was the son of a New England min- 

- ^rX ister, and never departed from the way of his father. 

(~^f^ In all the great crises of his life, upon land or sea, 

when most men would have sunk in utter despair, 

nothing kept him up but faith in his father's Saviour, and in 

that faith he lived and died. — Henry M. Field to S. A. N. 



HENRY FIELDING, 

English Novelist. (1707-1754.) 



NOW read over the works of Aristotle and Plato, with 
the rest of those inestimable treasures which ancient 
Greece hath bequeathed to the world. To these I 
added another study, compared to which all the phi- 
losophy taught by the wisest heathens is little better than a 
dream, and is, indeed, as full of vanity as the silliest jester 
ever pleased to represent it. This is that Divine wisdom 
which is alone to be found in the Holy Scriptures ; for these 
impart to us the knowledge and assurance of things much 
more worthy our attention than all which this world can 
offer to our acceptance of things which Heaven itself hath 
condescended to reveal to us, and to the smallest knowledge 
of which the highest human wit, unassisted, could never 



150 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

ascend. I began to think all the time I had spent with the 
best heathen writers was little more than labor lost ; for how- 
ever pleasant and delightful their lessons may be, or however 
adequate to the right regulation of our conduct with respect 
to this world, yet, when compared with the glory revealed in 
the Scripture, their highest documents will appear as trifling, 
and of as little consequence as the rules by which children 
regulate their childish little games and pastimes. True it is, 
that philosophy makes us wiser, but Christianity softens and 
sweetens it. The former makes us objects of human adora- 
tion, the latter of Divine love. That insures us a temporal, 
but this an eternal happiness. — " Philosophy and Christian- 
ity" page 261, u Chambers Cyclopcedia of English Literature" 
Volume III, Acme Edition. 




GUILLAUME LOUIS FIGUIER, 

French Physician, Chemist, Author, and Scientist. 

N order to introduce the new inhabitant — man — who 
comes to fill the earth with his presence, who brings 
with him intelligence to comprehend, to admire, to sub- 
due, and to rule the creation, we require nothing more 
than the grand and simple language of Moses, whom Bos- 
suet calls "the most ancient of historians, the most sublime 
of philosophers, the wisest of legislators." Let us listen to 
the words of this inspired writer: "And God said, Let 
us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let 
them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the 
fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, 
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 
So God created man in His own image, in the image of God 
created He him; male and female created He them." — Page 
469, "The World Before the Deluge," by Louis Figuier, 
newly edited and revised by H. W. Bristow. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 151 

CLINTON BOWEN FISK, 

Lawyer and General. ( 1828-1890.) 

URING his last days of illness he had many per- 
sonal interviews with his family. Two days before 
his death he remarked : "I overheard yon say that I 
was slipping away from you. Do they think my 
heart trouble will hasten my departure? " Then scarcely 
waiting for a reply, he continued: "We will shape things 
for living or dying. 'To live is Christ; to die is gain.' 
None of us may know," he said, referring to his near disso- 
lution, "why it is; but it is all in God's hands. It is so 
strange that I should be cut down just in the midst of my 
life-work. There seems so much to do, and I have felt that 
the few years allotted to me could be spent in better service 
for Him. So may He keep us and strengthen us and guide 
us all, no wanderers lost, the list all unbroken, to sing the 
song of redemption, through Jesus Christ, in the land where 
there shall be no sickness, no sorrow, nor death, nor tears, 
for God's own hand shall wipe all tears away." — Christian 
Statesman of July 24, 1890. 



HAMILTON FISH, 

Governor, United States Senator, Secretary of State under President 

Grant, March n, 1869-March 12, 1877, and President of 

the Society of the Cincinnati. (1808-1893.) 

K often gave dinners in honor of distinguished guests. 
On one of these occasions a certain politician, a fa- 
mous story-teller, took the liberty to speak irrever- 
ently of the Church and of Christianity. Mr. Fish 
at once checked his conversation with the reprimand, " Par- 
don me, but I must request you to desist. I firmly believe 
in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world ; of His Church 
I am a member ; in my house I have tried to honor Him, 
and in His faith I expect to die ; and it is painful to me to 




152 A CLOUD o£ WITNESSES. 

hear you speak in this way." — The Watchman, September 21, 
I 893, and verified by Nicholas Fish, son of Hamilton Fish, as 
''''quite in keeping with my fathers Christian faith and char- 
acter." 



RICHARD FLETCHER, 

Lawyer; Judge of Massachusetts Supreme Court, and Congressman. 
cjj (1788-1869 ) 



/^>7w>T last I have found rest. I look back with gratitude 

\fqjL to that moment when I was permitted to be buried 

°i (S° with Christ in baptism, and as I have realized the 

glorious import of that rite, I have wondered that 

every Christian should not long ago go down thus into the 

water and die, and rise again in the likeness of Christ. — 

Page 213, of u American Christian Rulers," by Edward J. 

Giddings. 

SOLOMON FOOT, 

United States Senator, 1851-1866. (1802-1866.) 

,OR years I have daily read the Bible in the presence 
_ ^ of my wife ; but when T have seen her seeking her 
God in prayer, so habitually and earnestly, I have 
felt that we ought to be united in it. My father and 
mother were both devoted Christians, and I was instructed 
in childhood in the lessons of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
I have never doubted from that day to this the truth of those 
teachings. I know and feel that I am a sinner. I believe 
that Christ was made an atonement sufficient for all men, 
and that this atonement is the only ground of salvation to 
human beings. I am convinced that none will be saved by 
works of righteousness which they have done. I have been 
thinking much of these two lines repeated the othjsr day : 

" Here, Lord, I give myself away, 
'Tis all that I can do." 




r 




PUBLIC AND PROFESSIONAL MEN. 



Elijah A. Morse, 

Page 326. 

Samuel J. Randall, David Hayes Agnew, 

Page J73. Page 10. 

John M. Thurston, 

Page 461. 

William M. Evarts, Chauncey M. Depew, 

Page 145. Page 119. 

David J. Brewer. 

Page 46. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 1 53 

I begin to understand that this comprehends all, and I am 
willing to lean on Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Friend. — 
Interview with Doctor Byron Sunderland, Washington, D. C. 




ANDREW HULL FOOTE, 

Rear-Admiral. (1806-1863.) 

HEN in Siam, he invited the royal dignitaries to 
dine on shipboard. As they sat down, the Ad- 
miral, as was his custom, asked the blessing. The 
king, in surprise, said that he thought only mis- 
sionaries did that. "True," replied the Admiral, u but every 
Christian is a missionary." 

He was a man of a high type of Christian character, with 
most genial and loveable traits, but uncompromisingly firm 
in his principles, especially in regard to temperance reform 
in the navy, where he was the means of abolishing the spirit 
ration. He was truly a pious man, severely an honest man, 
and a philanthropist of the first order. — Volume I I, "Apple- 
torts Cyclopedia of American Biography." 



JAMES DAVID FORBES, 

Scottish Physicist. (1809-1868.) 

NOW resolved to devote a more definite time before 
going to bed for reading the Bible, which shall include 
a short but clear self-examination. 

Keep from me a vain and overbearing spirit; let 
me have a thorough sense of my own ignorance and weak- 
ness; and keep me through all trials and troubles of a transi- 
tory state in body and soul unto everlasting life, for Jesus 
Christ's sake. Amen. 

On the 20th of September we reached our own comfortable 
house, in Park Place, for which I thanked God humbly and 



154 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

sincerely. O God, who has visited us with many trials, and 
led us like the Israelites of old from place to place, without 
any certain abode, bless, we beseech Thee, our return home, 
and mercifully grant that the afflictions and anxieties of the 
long probation may bear fruit in a more self-denying and 
godly life, and that we may have our hearts fixed on a more 
abiding resting-place, eternal in the heavens, for Jesus Christ's 
sake. Amen. — "Fcwions Men" by H. A. Page. 



CHARLES FOSTER, 

Governor; Secretary of the Treasury under President 
Harrison. 

BELIEVE the Bible to be an inspired Book — God's 
revelation to man; and in the Divinity of Jesus Christ. 
I also believe that the Holy Scriptures teach, 
through the atonement of our Saviour, an eternal 
salvation. Faith in kv Christ and the Bible 11 is u more 
precious than gold that perisheth, though it be tried with 
fire." 




JOHN WATSON FOSTER. 

Secretary of State under President Harrison ; Diplomat. 

vT the Eleventh International Christian Endeavor 
Convention, held in Madison Square, New York, 
July 7-10, 1892, he made this response: li I count 
myself fortunate in being in New York to-day, and 
in having the opportunity of drawing new inspiration for 
duty by contact with this great army of young soldiers of 
Christ. We hear much, from certain quarters, in this day 




\ CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 155 

about the decay of evangelical religion, and of the growth 
of agnosticism and the various tonus of disbelief which are 
to sweep off the earth our Bibles ^and our Christianity. 
Would that these critics might stand in my place to-night! 
They might be Led to believe that faith in a risen Saviour 
and in an inspired Word of God were neither dead nor 
dying in this land — this Christian land, which owes all that 

IS greatest and best in its past history and in LtS present 



'TV 



ORSON SQUIRE FOWLER, 

Phrenologist. (1809-1887.) 

T has always seemed to me that the entire thought and 
desion of the Bible is to teach salvation by Christ. 

Christ, too, who most needs this prerequisite, has re- 
ceived the homage of all Christendom, and will do so 
forever, not because of personal beauty or strength, nor of 
His animal propensities, or aristocratic observances, but 
chiefly because of His moral virtues. Religion was His 
crown, as it is that of His followers. . . . How many 
men and woincii have been completely revolutionized by this 
religion? Paul was changed from a persistent persecutor to 
a defender of "Christ crucified." How many a swearing, 

immoral man has a religious conversion made into a good, 
patient citizen, and an exemplary Christian ! . . . Christ 
was humble. He wore homespun garments. He spent His 
strength in doing good. Our business is with His doctrines 

and example on the one hand, and the teachings of phrenol- 
ogy on the other, and their coincidence is indeed perfect. 
Both enjoin worship of God as a paramount duty. — Pages 
924, 779, and 925, "Human Science, or ) Phrenology and Self 
Culture," by 0. S. Fowler, 



Lord Nelson's last words: " I thank God I have done my 
duty." 



156 



A CLOUD OK WITNESSES. 



FRIFDR1CH HFINRICH KARL FOUQUE. 

German Poet and Novelist. (1777-1843.) 



•s 



CHRIST OUR LIGHT, 



A7Y^ HrlOUSAND years have fleeted. 

c\ And, Saviour, still we see 
°l \v. x - Thy deed of love repeated 
On all who come to Thee. 
As he who sat benighted, 

Afflicted, poor, and blind. 
So now Thy word is plighted — 
Joy. light, and peace I find. 



Our hope, Lord, taileth never. 

When Thou Thy word dost plight 
My fears then ceased forever. 

And all my soul was light. 
Thou gavest me Thy blessing ; 

From former guilt set free : 
Now heavenly joy possessing, 

O Lord ! 1 follow Thee ! 



SIR RORFRT FOWLER. 





Member of Parliament. 

i)i E meet here as Christians, who on minor matters 

A may differ from one another, but who are all 

S(qJ& united in the feeling- that there is only one Name 
under heaven wherein we can be saved, and that 
is the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are all united in 
our anxiety to do what we can to spread Christ's Gospel upon 
the earth ; and 1 know of no more effectual means of doing 
it than by the circulation of that Word that He has pleased 
to give us, — "Bible Society Reporter " June y 18S0, London. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



157 




CHARLKS JAMBS FOX, 



English Statesman and Orator. (1749-1806.) 



I V S biographer tells 

this story of his 

death-bed scene: 

"There was the 
pious resignation of a 
Christian, who fearlessly 
abandons his fleeting spirit 
to a merciful Deity, visible 
throughout the day — the 
unbeliever who came to 
scoff must have remained 
to pray. It was now that 
Mr. Pox gathered the fruits of his glorious life; 
tare was unruffled by remorse — he had sacrificed 
that was personal to his country's good, and found his last 
moments blessed by the reflection that his efforts had been 
conformable to the religion he professed." — "Lives of Emi- 
nent and Illustrious Englishmen" by George Alfred ( '////- 
ningham. 




his depar- 
everything 



SIR PHILIP FRANCIS, 



British Statesman. (1740 1818.) 

,HE internal evidence of tlu- Christian religion is 
greater than the external. In the matter of external 
evidence, other religions may compete with the 
Christian; but in purity, wisdom, and power of 

cleansing the human heart, it is alike original and supreme. 

One of its great characteristics is its opposition to the mon- 




* His biographers are firmly convinced of his identity with " Junius," 
and bring a ^reat body of circumstantial proof in support of their belief. 



158 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

ster vices of humanity. What a lesson for the arrogant and 
proud man is the constant humility and gentleness of our 
Saviour, who when most asserting His power calls Himself 
the Son of Man. . . The doctrines of Christ were evi- 
dently of the practical kind. He prescribed no forms, no 
prayers but one ; no articles of belief except the Divine 
authority for His mission. — "Life of Sir Philip Francis," Vol- 
ume II, page 419, by Joseph Parkes. 




THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN, 

Lawyer, United States Senator, Chancellor of the University of 

New York 1839-1850; President of Rutgers College, 

1850 until Death. (1787-1861.) 

ET us look away to the brighter and better prospects 
and surer hopes in the promise and consolations of 

"^ the Gospel of our Saviour. I pray, my honored sir, 
that your heart may seek this blessed refuge, stable 
as the everlasting hills, and let this be the occasion to prompt 
an earnest, prayerful, and, the L/ord grant it may be, a joyful 
search after the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. — Correspond- 
ence with Henry Clay after failure of election to the Presi- 
dency. 

The Bible has done it, sir ! Seal up this one Volume and 
in a half century all these hopes would wither and these 
prospects perish forever. These sacred temples would crum- 
ble or become the receptacles of pollution and crime. . . 
The influence of this sacred Volume alone can achieve it. 
Let it find its way into every cottage until the whole mass of 
our population shall yield to its elevating power ; and under 
the benignant smiles of Him who delights to bless the 
Word, our government, the last hope of liberty, will rest on 
foundations against which the winds and waves shall beat in 
vain. — Delivered while in official relation with the American 
Bible Society, of which he was President from 1846 until 
1861. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



159 




BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 

Statesman and Philosopher (1706-1790.) 



OU desire to know 

something of my 

religion. It is trie 

first time I have 
been questioned upon it. 
But I can not take your 
curiosity amiss, and shall 
endeavor in a few words to 
gratify it. Here is my creed : 
I believe in one God, the 
Creator of the universe ; 
that He governs it by His 
providence ; that he ought 

to be worshipped; that the most acceptable service we can 
render Him is doing good to His other children ; that the 
soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in 
another world respecting his conduct in this. As to Jesus 
of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I 
think His system of morals and His religion, as He left them 
to us, the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see. — "Com- 
plete Works of Benjamin Franklin" by John Bigelow. 




In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we 
were sensible of the danger, we had daily prayer in this 
room for Divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, 
and they were graciously answered. All of us who were 
engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent in- 
stances of a superintending Providence in our favor. To 
that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of con- 
sulting in peace on the means of establishing our future 
national felicity. And have we now forgotten this powerful 
Friend? or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance? 
I have lived for a long time (eighty-one years) ; a*id the 
longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, 



l6o A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow 
can not fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable 
that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been 
assured, sir, in the sacred Writings, that "Except the Lord 
build the house, they labor in vain who build it." I firmly 
believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring 
aid we shall proceed in this political building no better than 
the builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our little par- 
tial, local interests; our prospects will be confounded, and 
we ourselves shall become a reproach and a by-word to fu- 
ture ages. What is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this 
unfortunate instance, despair of establishing government by 
human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, or conquest. I 
beg, therefore, to move that henceforth prayers, imploring 
the assistance of Heaven and its blessings on our delibera- 
tions, be held in this Assembly every morning before we 
proceed to business; and that one or more of our clergy of 
this city be requested to officiate in that service. — Delivered 
at the Convention for Framing of the Constitution of the 
United States, 1787. Volume II, "Bancrofts History of the 
Constitution of the United States." 



FREDERICK III., 

(FREDERICK CHARLES NICHOLAS.) 

King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany. (1831-1888.) 

S long as I live I shall never forget this first evening 
M)L\C at Jerusalem, as I watched the sun set in the still- 
-+~^*- ness which is always solemn as it settles over na- 
ture. Drawn away from earth, the soul seemed able 
to linger undisturbed upon the thought which must thrill 
through every Christian as he surveys the scenes on which 
the great work of our salvation was consummated. To be in 
such a place, and there read the familiar passages of the 
Holy Gospels, is a religious service itself. — Page 412 of 
" The History of the German People, from the Earliest Times 
to the Accession of William II" by Hermann Lieb. 



c 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. l6l 

FRIEDERICH WILHELM AUGUST 
FRO E BEL, 

German Philosopher, Philanthropist, and Educational Reformer 
(Kindergarten System). (1782-1852.) 

ESUS is the only begotten Son of God. He is the 

beloved Son of God. 

Jesus commanded His disciples, " Go ye into all 

the world and teach all nations "; purify and lead 
them to the knowledge of God, the Father ; of Jesus, the 
Son of God ; and of the Holy Spirit, to a life in accordance 
with this knowledge. 

Every human being, as a being proceeding from God, ex- 
isting through God, and living in God, should raise himself 
to the Christian religion — the religion of Jesus. Therefore 
the school should first of all teach the religion of Christ; 
it should first of all, and above all, give instruction in the 
Christian religion; everywhere and in all zones the school 
should instruct for and in this religion. — Chapter V, " The 
Education of Man" by Friederich Froebel; translated and 
annotated by TV. N. Hailmann. 



JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE, 

English Historian. 

E are not questioning the fact that the Bible is in- 

V)jPjLn fallible; we desire only to be told on what evi- 

' dence that great and awful fact concerning it 



S& 



properly rests. It would seem, indeed, as if in- 
stinct had been wiser than argument — as if it had been felt 
that nothing short of this literal and close inspiration could 
preserve the facts on which Christianity depends. 

Circumcision availed nothing, nor uncircumcision — but a 
new creature — and this new creature was born again into 
Christ. . . . Hedged in by "his muddy vesture of de- 



l62 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

cay," his eyes, like the eyes of the disciples at Kmmaus, are 
holden, and only faith feels Him. Bnt death, which till 
Christ had died had been the last victory of evil, in virtue of 
His submission to it, became its own destroyer, for it had 
power only over- the tainted particles of the old substance, 
and there was nothing needed but that these should be 
washed away, and the elect would stand out at once pure 
and holy, clothed in immortal bodies, like refined gold, the 
redeemed of God. The Being who accomplished a work so 
vast — a work compared to which the first creation appears 
but a trifling difficulty — who could He be but God? God 
Himself! He was God! He was man also; for He was the 
second Adam — the second starting-point of human growth. 
— Pages 184 and 163, "Short Studies on Great Subjects" by 
James Anthony Fronde. 



WILLIAM PIERCE FRYE, 

United States Senator. 

"N reply to your question, "What is your opinion of 
Christ and the Bible?" I am glad to say that I believe 
Jesus Christ to be the Son of God; that He died upon 
the Cross to save us from the penalty of sin ; that He 
rose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of the 
Father ; that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one ; that the 
Bible is a Divine message from God, delivered for our in- 
struction, guidance, and salvation in this life. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 163 

LOUIS de BUADE FRONTENAC, 

Governor of Canada. (1620-1698.) 

.HE Holy Scriptures command us to obey our sover- 
eign, and teach us that no pretext or reason can dis- 
pel us from this obedience. 

As for me, it only remains to protest before you 
that I shall esteem myself happy in consecrating all my ef- 
forts, and, if need be, my life, to extend the empire of Jesus 
Christ throughout all this land. — Page 19, " Count Frontenac 
and New France under Louis XIV" by Francis Parkman. 





ROBERT B. FULTON, 

President of the University of Mississippi. 

.PEAKING personally, nothing is more certain to me 
than that I owe to the religion of Christ, and to the 
Bible as its exponent, anything and everything in my 
life that may be of any worth. 
What would the world be without Christ and the Bible? 
They are indissolubly connected with whatever is pure in 
morals, whatever is elevating in art, whatever is most benefi- 
cent in government, and whatever is most useful in science. 
As a teacher of young men for twenty years, I have known 
very few who have openly rejected Christ by refusing to be- 
lieve in His divinity. I have never known such to find any 
other rock on which to make a satisfying foundation. The 
saddest old age I know is that of a friend, one who has 
doubted so long that he can not believe, neither can he be 
satisfied with his doubts. _ , 



" I know that my Redeemer liveth," and, " It is done," 
were the last words of Horace Greeley. 



164 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 





JAMES ABR.AM GARFIELD, 

Twentieth President of the United States. (1831-1881.) 



E thus finished a 
letter to a Chris- 
tian friend, show- 
ing his submis- 
sion to the death of his 
little son : u In the hope 
of the Gospel, which is 
so precious in this hour 
of affliction, I am affec- 
tionately your brother in 
Christ." 

I am struck with the 
fact that Bismarck, the 
great statesman of Ger- 
many, probably the fore- 
most man in Europe to- 
day, stated as an unques- 
tioned principle, that the support, the defense, and propaga- 
tion of the Christian Gospel is the central object of the Ger- 
man government. — Page 154, " Golden Gleams of Thought" 
by S. P. Linn. 

The world's history is a Divine poem, of which the history 
of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains 
have been pealing along down the centuries, and though 
there have been mingled the discords of warring cannon and 
dying men, yet to the Christian philosopher and historian — 
the humble listener — there has been a Divine melody run- 
ning through the song which speaks of hope and halcyon 
days to come. 

Whilst a student at Williams College, he, with other stu- 
dents, on " Mountain Day," climbed one of the high peaks 
seven miles distant. The surrounding scenery was enough 
to awaken religious awe. Just then young Garfield broke 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 165 

the silence : " Boys, it is a habit of mine to read a chapter in 
the Bible every evening with my absent mother. Shall I 
read aloud?" The little company assented; and, drawing 
from his pocket a well-worn Testament, he read in soft, rich 
tones the chapter which the mother in Ohio was reading at 
the same time, and then called on a classmate on that moun- 
tain top to pray. — "Life of Garfield" by John C. Ridpath 



GALILEO GALILEI, 

Italian Astronomer. (1564-1642.) 



AM inclined to think that the authority of Holy Scrip- 
ture is intended to convince men of those truths 
which are necessary for their salvation, and which, 
being far above man's understanding, can not be made 
credible by any learning, or any other means than revelation 
by the Holy Spirit. 

I send you a rose, which ought to please you extremely, 
seeing what a rarity it is at this season. And with the rose 
you must accept its thorns, which represent the bitter suffer- 
ing of our Lord, while the green leaves represent the hope 
we may entertain, that through the same sacred passion we, 
having passed through the darkness of this short winter of 
our mortal life, may attain to the brightness and felicity of an 
eternal spring in Heaven. — Pages 16 and 18, "Famous Men 
of Science" by Sarah K. Bolton. 



GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI, 

Italian Patriot. (1807-1882.) 

AM a Christian, and I speak to Christians — I am a 

true Christian, and I speak to true Christians. I love 

and venerate the religion of Christ, because Christ 

came into the world to deliver humanity from slavery, 

for which God had not created it. . . . You who are here — 



l66 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

you, the educated and cultivated portion of the citizenship — 
you have the duty to educate the people — educate the people 
— educate them to be Christians — educate them to be Ital- 
ians. . . . Viva Italia! Viva Christianity! — Page 444, 
General Garibaldi ] s Autobiography — Translated from his pri- 
vate papers, by Theodore D wight. 



WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON ; 

Journalist and Reformer. ( 1805-1879.) 



A TRIBUTE TO THE BIBLE. 

BOOK of books ! Though scepticism flout 

Thy sacred origin, thy worth decry ; 

Though transcendent folly give the lie 

To what thou teachest ; though the critic doubt 

The fact : that miracle ; and raise shout 

Of triumph over each incongruity 

He in thy pages may perchance espy ; 

As in his strength the effulgent sun shines out, 

Hiding innumerable stars, so dost thou shine, 

With heavenly light all human works excelling. 

Thy oracles are holy and divine, 

Of free salvation through a Saviour telling. 

All truth, all excellence dost Thou enshrine, 

The mists of sin and ignorance expelling. 

O Jesus! noblest of patriots, greatest of heroes, most glo- 
rious of martyrs ! Thine is the spirit of universal liberty and 
love, of uncompromising hostility to every form of injustice 
and wrong. But not with weapons of death dost Thou assail 
Thine enemies that they may be vanquished. For thou dost 
not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities 
and powers, against rulers of darkness of this world, against 
spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore hast Thou 
put on the whole armor of God, having Thy loins girt about 
with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, 
and Thy feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of 



P" 



' 







JESUS AT SIMON'S HOME. 



JESUS turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I 
entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she has 
washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou 
gavest Me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss 
my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint : but this woman hath anointed 
my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are 
forgiven her; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth 
little. — Luke vii, 44-47. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 167 

peace; going forth to battle with the shield of faith, the hel- 
met of salvation, the sword of the Spirit. Worthy of all im- 
itation art Thou, in overcoming the evil that is m the world. 
For by Thy shedding Thy own blood, but not the blood of 
Thy bitterest foes, even shalt Thou obtain at last a universal 
victory. — "Acts of the Anti-Slavery Apostles" by Parker 
Pillsbury. 

MERRILL EDWARDS GATES, 

President of Amherst College. 

k HK thought of God is a mighty force, because God is y 
and His Will is the source of life, and light, and 
power. Through true thoughts about God we re- 
ceive into our lives this life, and light, and power ; 
the life of God begins in us. A personality is the most po- 
tent form in which great thoughts about life can be presented 
to men. It is in the Divine Person of Christ that God gives 
us His true thought about Himself in His relations with 
man. The supreme question for each of us is, " What think 
ye of Christ?" 

The young jman who says " Christ does not interest me,"' 
throws a strong, revealing light upon his own deficiencies. 
Surely that young man does not belong to our age, with its 
deepening sense of the solidarity of the race, with its yearn- 
ings for brotherhood among men of all classes and nations. 
What man who truly belongs to our time can fail to hear, 
even in the dissatisfaction of the Socialists, and the irrational, 
mad cries of the Anarchists, a pathetic undertone of longing 
for such a brotherhood among men as is possible only when 
men come to know that they are brothers because of the com- 
mon Fatherhood of God? This brotherhood men learn only 
in Christ. 

Do we think the truth of God and Christ ? Here comes in 
the value of Bible study. In the Bible, God reveals to us 
truth about Himself which we could never have learned 



[68 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES, 

from any other source. Neither reason nor nature could have 
taught us of the redeeming love of a holy God. This great- 
est truth in the world comes into the world through Christ 
and the Bible. And it is by reverently studying the di- 
vinely revealed Will of God in the Bible that we get true 
thought of God, and are saved from the self-deceptions of 
mysticism, and come to a living knowledge of Christ, whom 
to know is life everlasting. Hold fast to your Bible, young 
man ! Look through it to God in the face of Jesus Christ ; 
and you are in no more danger of c< idolizing a book " than 
you are of idolizing the letters your sainted mother wrote 
you years ago, when you read them over, the better to recall 
her love and her high purposes for you. 




ftm 



CHRISTIAN FURCHTEGOTT GELLERT, 

German Poet, and Professor of Philosophy, University of Leipsic. 
(1715-1769.) 



JESUS LIVES. 

JESUS lives ! Who now despairs, 

Spurns the Word which God hath spoken. 
^ Grace to all that Word declares, 

Grace whereby sin's yoke is broken. 
Christ rejects not penitence ; 
That shall be my confidence. 

Jesns lives ! for me He died ; 

Hence will I, to Jesns living, 
Pure in heart and act abide. 

Praise to Him and glory giving. 
Freely God doth aid dispense ; 
'Phis shall be mv confidence. 



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170 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

aided in Judea nineteen centuries ago by a multitude of 
the heavenly host, saying: "Peace on earth, good will to 
men." ... I often ask what branch of the Christian 
Church will be first to place on its flag, and assert every- 
where, that Science is the handmaid of Religion ; that every 
effort to extend the domain of human thought, and to inter- 
pret the plan of the creation, is an effort to extend the reign 
of righteousness and truth. When the churches thus more 
fully realize the value of advancing knowledge, and when 
universities more heartily recognize the truth of Christian 
doctrine, as well as the beauty of Christian life, then shall 
we say with the Psalmist, "Jerusalem is built as a city that 
is at unity with itself. Peace within thy walls, and prosper- 
ity within thy palaces." Then will men acknowledge, if 
they do not now, that the beauty of poetry, the truth of 
science, the exactness of philosophy, and the faith which, as 
Christians, we hold most dear, are so many agencies by 
which the race are helped, or so many instrumentalities by 
which individuals are fitted for the world that is to come. — 
Page 283, u National Perils and Opportunities" and extracted 
from an address delivered at Washington, December, 1887, 
before the Evangelical Alliance. 



RICHARD WATSON GILDER, 

Journalist; Editor of The Century. 



A CONFESSION. 

F Jesus is a man, 

And only man, I say 
That of all mankind, I cleave to Him, 
And to Him cleave alway. 

If Jesus Christ is Lord 

And the only God, I swear 
I will follow Him through Heaven and hell, 

The earth, the sea, the air. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



I 7 I 




WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE, 

Author, and Prime Minister of Great Britain. 



OST men at the 
head of great move- 
<Ts> ments are Christian 
men. During the 
many years in the Cabinet 
I was brought in contact 
with some sixty master 
minds, and not more than 
perhaps three or four of 
whom were in sympathy 
with the skeptical move- 
ments of the day. 




nty/Ajary^ 



As one of the grounds for naming his recent work "The 
Impregnable Rock," he says : " They lead upward and on- 
wards to the idea that the Scriptures are well called Holy 
Scriptures; and that, though assailed by camp, by battery, 
and by mine, they are, nevertheless, an house built upon a 
rock, and that rock impregnable ; that the weapon of offense 
which shall impair their efficiency for aiding in the redemp- 
tion of mankind has not yet been forged; that the Sacred 
Canon, which it took (perhaps) two thousand years from the 
accumulations of Moses down to the acceptance of the 
Apocalypse to construct, is like to wear out the storms and 
the sunshine of the world, and all the wayward aberrations 
of humanity, not merely for a term as long, but until time 
shall be no more." 

The Christian faith and the Holy Scriptures arm us with 
the means of neutralizing and repelling the assaults of evil 
in and from ourselves. Mist may rest upon the surrounding 
landscape, but our own path is visible from hour to hour, 
from dav to da v. 



172 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

" I do not ask to see 
The distant scene ; one step enough for me." 

Our Saviour astonished the people because, instead of be- 
ing lost in the mazes of arbitrary and vicious excrescences 
that darkened the face of religion, He taught them "with 
authority," and "not as the scribes." If God has given us 
a revelation of His will, whether in the laws of our nature, 
or in the kingdom of grace, that revelation not only illumi- 
nates, but binds. Like the credentials of an earthly am- 
bassador, it is just and necessary that the credentials of that 
revelation should be tested. But if it be found genuine, if 
we have proofs of its being genuine, equal to those of which, 
in ordinary concerns of life, reason acknowledges the obliga- 
tory character, then we find ourselves to be not independ- 
ent beings, engaged in an optional inquiry, but the servants 
of a Master, the pupils of a Teacher, the children of a Fa- 
ther, and each of us already bound with the bonds which 
those relations imply. — Pages 7, 353, and 355, "The Impreg- 
nable Rock of Holy Scripture" by the Right Hon. IV. E. 
Gladstone. 



J. H. GLADSTONE, 

English Scientist. 



LOOK upon Christ as the highest manifestation of the 
character of our heavenly Father, the one Mediator 
between God and man. I regard the Scriptures as a 
series of the progressive revelations of God's will to 
man, through various prophets and teachers up to Jesus of 
Nazareth Himself and His immediate disciples. 

You ask me to give " a word of testimony as a scientific 
man." I do not know that scientific men have been slow in 
their testimony for Christ altogether. To begin : when Christ 
was in Bethlehem, the first who came to Him were poor peas- 
ants; but the next were the scientific men of the age, traveling 
from afar, who had seen the star in the East. Not the priests 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 1 73 

of Jerusalem, not the leading politicians, but astronomers — - 
wise men, who came bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh. 
That was only the commencement of a long line of scientific 
men who have brought homage to Christ in one way or an- 
other. There was not a great number that we could call 
scientific men in the early ages of the Church ; but those 
that were, generally influenced the current of Christianity to 
a considerable extent, though not always advantageously. 
Coming to latter ages, we find such men as Copernicus, Tycho 
Brahe, and Kepler, who were men of Christian spirit, and 
ready to ascribe to God all their faculties and to give praise to 
Him.' Turning to our own country (England) we find such 
men (I will only speak of those of the first rank) as Lord 
Bacon. We know that he was not only a believer in the 
Bible, but that he wrote as a Christian, and that his writings 
contain not only the highest philosophy, but a good deal of 
religious advice. Well, we go on and find Newton. No 
higher name could we mention — a name great in many de- 
partments of science, the greatest, perhaps ; and at the same 
time a devout Christian who was not ashamed to write relig- 
ious works. I might proceed to such men as Robert Boyle, 
"the father of chemistry," or Cuvier, one of the greatest 
anatomists. Then, again, there is Michael Faraday, a man 
who was a humble Christian. And I may mention Herschel, 
Sir David Brewster, and the late Clerk Maxwell, all well 
known as Christians by their words and writings. If you ask 
whose names stand the highest in physical science among 
living men, some will answer, Professor Stokes of Cambridge, 
and others, Sir William Thomson of Glasgow — both believers 
in Christ. If we turn to the biological side of science, and 
ask which is the brightest name, we shall probably be re- 
minded of the veteran Richard Owen, whose contributions to 
the study of natural theology are well known. Some time 
ago, at the anniversary of the Royal Society, the four savans 
to whom medals were distributed were Professor Flower, 
Captain Abney, Professor Cayley, and Lord Raleigh, no slight 
proof that those who are taking a high place in science are 



1J4 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

to be found good disciples of Christ. Look abroad to the 
French Academy: M. Dumas, the perpetual Secretary, and 
M. Wutz, late President, are both personally known to me as 
Christian men. It is difficult for me to remember a single 
man of the first rank in science who is opposed to Chris- 
tianity, unless that charge can be truthfully brought against 
my friend, Professor Huxley. 



%^^^^^-^w- 





JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE, 

German Poet and Author. (1749-1832.) 

ESTEEM the Gospels to be thoroughly genuine, for 
there shines from them the reflected splendor of a 
sublimity proceeding from the person of Jesus Christ 
of so Divine a kind as only the Divine could ever 
have manifested on earth. — Conversations with Eckermann, 

in., 371. 

I am persuaded that the Bible becomes evermore beautiful 
the more it is understood; that is, the more we consider that 
every word which we apply to ourselves has had at first a 
particular, peculiar, immediate reference to certain special 
circumstances. — Ans Makariens Archiv W. Meister. 

Nothing, therefore, remained to me but to part from this 
society; and as my love for the Holy Scriptures, as well as 
the Founder of Christianity, and its early professors, could 
not be taken from me, I formed a Christianity for my private 
use, and sought to build it up by an attentive study of his- 
tory. — Page 208, Autobiography. 



Frederick II., of Denmark, when nearing death, said to his 
physician : " Let the pulse beat as it may, we know the 
mercy of God will never fail." 



A CLOUD OE WITNESSES. 



175 





OLIVER GOLDSMITH, 

Irish Poet, Historian, and Novelist. (1728-1774.) 

.HE disciples, after 

their Divine Master 

was taken from 

them, proceeded to 
fulfill His last command- 
ment by preaching the 
Gospel "to every nation." 
. . . Independent of the 
sustaining Providence of 
its Almighty Author, there 
were many circumstances 
that facilitated the progress 
and prepared the way for the 
final triumph of Christian- 
ity. . . The heathen system was at once obscure and ab- 
surd; the philosophers avowedly spoke from conjecture; but 
by the Gospel "life and immortality was brought to light." 
Christianity offered the blessings of salvation to men of every 
class; it was its most marked feature that "to the poor the 
Gospel was preached," and the wretch who dared not come 
into the pagan temple because he had no rich offering to lay 
upon the altar was ready to obey the call of Him who 
offered pardon and love "without money and without price." 
Since that period Christianity has prevailed in 
Europe, and formed the great social happiness and the great 
source of the intellectual eminence enjoyed in that quarter of 
the globe. Let us hope that the exertions now made to dif- 
fuse its blessings over the benighted portions of the earth 
will prove successful, and that "peace and happiness, truth 
and justice, religion and piety" will prevail from pole to 
pole. — Pages 288 and 391, u Pinnock ) s Goldsmiths Rome" 



Last words of Sir Henry Havelock: " See, my son, how 
a Christian can die." 




176 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

CHARLES GEORGE GORDON, 

English Major-General ("Chinese Gordon"). 
(1833-1885.) 

^HBRE is death in the seeking of high posts on this 
earth for the purpose of what the world calls doing 
great things ; the mightiest of men are flies on a 
wheel; a kind word to a crossing-sweeper delights 
Christ in him, as much as it would delight Christ in a queen. 
I have had very nice thoughts on I John, IV., 13 — "Who- 
soever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwell- 
eth in him, and he in God." I think it is the key to much 
of the Scripture. I am more than ever convinced that the 
secret of happiness and holiness is in the indwelling of God. 
Out of commiseration for our dual condition, God has 
given us an oracle which will answer any question, advise, 
instruct, and guide us ; now this oracle must be His voice, 
for, if not, it would not be His Word. He has, in His infinite 
wisdom, incarnated His voice in the Scriptures ; His voice 
is to be understood by the highest or lowest intellect ; it 
gives answers through all time. To the carnal man it is an 
ordinary Book ; to the spiritual man it is alive, and makes 
alive. Whether we consider it or not, the Scriptures con- 
tain the mind of Christ, and is, when illuminated with the 
Spirit, as if Christ was ever talking to us. Now, we should 
think that if Christ was ever talking to us, that would suffice 
us, and, consequently, as I believe that in theory, I try to real- 
ize it in practice. — "Life of General Gordon, a Christian 
Hero" by Major Seton Churchill. 



Last words of Sir Walter Raleigh, after mounting the scaf- 
fold, and running his fingers along the edge of the axe : 
"Now I am going to God. "Tis a sharp medicine, but a 
sure cure for all ills." His executioner asked him how he 
would lay his head. He replied : "So the heart be right, it 
does not matter which way the head lies. What dost thou 
fear? Strike, man." 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



177 




THE RIGHT HONORABLE JOHN CAMP- 
BELL GORDON, 

(SIXTH EARL OF ABERDEEN,) 

Governor-General of Canada. 



B all recognize, and 
rejoice to recog- 
nize, the glorious 
fact that Chris- 
tianity is the universal reli- 
gion. It is the religion of 
mankind. It is as well 
adapted to the needs of the 
dusky sons of Africa as to the 
fair-skinned Scandinavian. 
Whilst we recognize this 
glorious oneness of the ever- 
lasting Gospel, which we are 

here to promote, we must also recognize the diversity of 
operations which are called for in presenting and declaring 
this everlasting Word. 

The walls of Jericho fell down flat, but it was not till 
after they had been compassed round seven days and the last 
day seven times. And what was the instrument through 
which this was accomplished? It was not the clash of spears 
and swords ; nor even, first and foremost, was it the shout of 
the people ; it was the blast of the ram's horns representing 
the Word of God. And it is still the instrument with which 
we must carry on our work; that is the weapon of our war- 
fare ; the Word of God, with the spirit of Christ living and 
abiding in us. — Pages 165 and 465, Volume /, " Report of 
the Missionary Conference" London, 1! 




Douglas, in a little time you will be a duke, but I shall be 
a King. — Dying words of the Duke of Hamilton. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JOHN BROWN GORDON, 

United States Senator. 

BELIEVE Christianity is a complete and perfect sys- 
tem of faith and practice; Christ, while the ideal 
man, was no less in life and death the very God. The 
Holy Scriptures I believe to be the only authentic 
and authoritative Word of God. 





JOHN BARTHOLOMEW GOUGH. 

^ Temperance Reformer and Popular Orator. ,1817-1886.) 

0. 

( Y and by this and all great moral enterprises shall 
nsher in the day of the final triumph of the Cross of 
Christ. I believe it, and for that I work. And when 
I die, I pray God that I may die in the harness, bat- 
tling for this with the hope that there is a better day coming, 
and a prayer, "God speed the right!" Then will we lay our 
laurels at His feet, and east our crowns before Him, joining 
in the mighty anthem of praise to Him who hath snbdned 
all things unto Himself. 

I have a mind capable of understanding in some degree 
the greatness of the Almighty; a reason able to worship Him 
intelligently, and a heart enabling- me to love Him. I am a 
living man, having within me the tire of God, and a spark of 
immortality which will never go out. For me Christ, the 
Saviour, died. I am worth more than all this magnificent 
materialism. I am A INI AX! The elements are to melt 
with a fervent heat. The world is to be removed. "The 
milky way will shut up its two arms, and hush its dumb 
prayer forever," but I shall live with a destiny before me as 
high as heaven, and as vast as eternity. — Pi7^ts 422^^/4" 
"Platform Echoes" by John B. Goitgh. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 1 79 

CHARLES FRANCOIS GOUNOD, 

French Musical Composer. (1818-1893.) 

KNOW I look robust; but, as St. Paul says in his 

Epistle to Timothy, "I am now ready to be offered, 

and the time of my departure is at hand. I have 

fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I 

have kept the faith." 

The oratorio, "The Redemption," is a lyrical setting of 
the three great facts on which depend the existence of the 
Christian Church — the Passion and Death of our Saviour; 
His glorious life on earth from His resurrection to His as- 
cension, and the spread of Christianity in the world through 
the mission of the Apostles. — See "Review of Reviews" of 
December, 1893. 



GOVERNORS OF STATES.* 

ARKANSAS. 

SIMON P. HUGHES. 

pHRIST was immaculate, and represented the highest 

\^J and noblest type of humanity, and the authority and 

^KP majesty of Divinity. The Christian religion brought 

to light the immortality of the soul, a future state 

of reward and punishment, and teaches a faultless system of 

morals. The Bible commends itself as the revealed will of 

God to man, and as a testimony to the Divinity and character 

of Jesus Christ. 




nCj^isycn^i — 



tfStiLy.Jext 



* These Autograph Opinions were obtained through correspondence 
during and since 1889. The States, represented by their Executives, are 
placed in alphabetical order. S. A. N. 



180 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

CALIFORNIA. 

G^ H. H. MARKHAM. 

G 2)ERMIT me to say that I am a firm believer in Chris- 
^ (^ tianity and its Book. I am thoroughly convinced 
that all the Churches of Jesus Christ are doing a 
vast amount of good in their respective capacities. 



2, 



w 



COLORADO. 

ALVA ADAMS. 



BELIEVE Christ and Christianity to be the strongest 

and most potent powers for the good of the race in 

modern civilization, and the Bible to be the greatest 

statute Book ever given for the guidance of man or 

of creeds. /</>* /z 7 




CONNECTICUT. 

P. C. LOUNSBURY. 



"HAT think ye of Christ?" Thank God, I think 
well of Him ! He is gladness to my soul, and 
eternal life to all that believe on His name. Chris- 
tianity is essential to a permanent civilization, and 
the Bible is an inspired Book — God's revelation to man. 



c7</&^sfr 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. l8l 

DELAWARE. 

BENJAMIN T. BIGGS. 

HROUGH the merits of a dying and risen Saviour all 
may so live on earth that when death comes the im- 
mortal soul of man may have a home in Heaven. Let 
the inspired Volume be read by everyone, the Church 
of Jesus Christ sustained, and the world will be happy and 
prosperous. . «. 





FLORIDA. 

EDWARD A. PERRY. 



HRIST'S teachings of the Fatherhood of God and 
the brotherhood of man is grand in its breadth and 
power, and sublime in its simplicity and love. How 
immeasurably superior to the exclusiveness of the 
sectarian and the speculations of the schoolmen ! "All Scrip- 
ture is given by inspiration of God." 



J^ 



V^->^-^— \y 



GEORGIA. 

W. J. NORTHEN. 

} T gives me great pleasure to aid in any way possible in 
presenting to mankind the Christian religion as the 
beginning of civilization, making the security and hap- 
piness of our homes, the highest and best progress oi 
our people, and the best hopes of the world. Never, for a 
moment, have I doubted that Christ is "He that should 
come," and that the Scriptures are given to us by inspiration 
from God. In them we have eternal life. There are hid- 



182 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

den mysteries in Christ and the Bible ; so there are in the 
earth, the air, and the sea. These increase rather than 
destroy my views of the wondrous power of the Godhead. 



%tiL J&JtLt 



IDAHO. 

^ W. J. McCONNELL 









ESUS CHRIST and the Holy Bible constitute the bul- 
wark of our civilization. To me, Jesus is the only 
Saviour, my guide in this life, and comfort in the hour 
of death. The Scriptures are Divine, and a perfect 
record of revelation 





IOWA. 

FRANK D JACKSON. 

HE highest compliment possible to any family is to 
truthfully denominate it as the home of Christ and 
the Bible. The sweetest carols from human voice are 
the Christian songs. The most touching and the most 
lasting utterances of the greatest men of our country are their 
testimonies to Christian influences and Christian purposes. 
Men may not all publicly confess the one nor profess the 
other; but belief in God and repressed faith in Christ, the 
Saviour, are, I believe, as common to the human heart and 
mind as are the susceptibilities to hunger and to thirst com- 
mon to the physical body. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 183 

INDIANA. 

ISAAC P. GRAY. 

HERE was no true conception of what man should be 
until Christ came. He was Himself an exemplifica- 
cation of a just and perfect man, and therefore must 
have been Divine. His teachings gave birth to Chris- 
tianity, the progress of which marks the advance of civiliza- 
tion, and obedience to the precepts of the Bible solaces every 
human grief and brings peace and happiness to man. 

KANSAS. 

LYMAN U. HUMPHREY. 

HAVE this to say: That Christ lived and died I re- 
gard as a fact well settled and almost universally 
accepted ; that there was a Divinity in His life and 
teachings, as found in the New Testament, I can not 
doubt, though I can not explain. The system of religion 
founded by Christ must possess elements of supernatural 
powers. On no other hypothesis can we account for its mar- 
velous energy and continued growth, its influence for good 
in lifting up and bettering the social, moral, and material 
condition of every people it has touched. The simple pre- 
sentation alone of such a character as Christ as an image of 
what human nature should be, has done more good in the 
world than all moral systems and philosophies ever invented 
or taught. 



MhUuMj 




184 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

MAINE. 

EDWIN C. BURLEIGH. 

BELIEVE in Christ as revealed to us in the New 

Testament, and that His glorious mission here upon 

earth was to' fully make known God's will to man ; 

to tell of immortality ; and by example to furnish 

humanity a type of the perfect life. 

To me the Bible is just what it claims to be — the Word 
of God, the great Book of books, the inspiration and guide 
of Christendom. Upon its teachings is founded all true 
civilization; from it comes the great power that is working 
to-day for the regeneration of the world. 



MARYLAND. 

ELIHU E. JACKSON. 

FIRMLY believe the Bible to be a Divine revelation, 
and accept the Apostles' Creed as a basis of my belief 
in Christ (2). 



Closing sentences of John Bright in the House of Com- 
mons : "If one may allow one's imagination a little play, I 
should say that we should not have a new heaven, but we 
should have a new earth. . . . But I will believe in a better 
time ; if Christianity be not a fable, as I believe and you be- 
lieve it is not, then that better time must come." 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 1 85 

MICHIGAN. 

CYRUS G. LUCE. 

BEUEVE in the eternal truths taught in the Scrip- 
tures. Scientific discovery fortifies and strengthens 
these truths. They have endured the test of time 
and trial, and, I think, will endure to the end. Christ 

came as a part of the Godhead, as an angel of mercy, and 

as a living example for a true Christian life. 

1 e^ 





MINNESOTA. 

A. R. McGILL 



■HE Hebrew is the noblest of literatures, and the Bible 
is the best of books. Its supreme interest culminates 
in the ethical teachings of Jesus Christ ; but His life, 
His heroism, His divine compassion, His atoning sac- 
rifice are even more than any words He ever uttered. 




MISSISSIPPI. 

ROBERT LOWRY. 



9§J 



ESUS CHRIST is equal with God, yet possessed with 
a perfect human nature. He is the Saviour of all 
h who believe in Him. 

Christianity is the religion of the Holy Scriptures. 
The Bible is the inspired Word of God, furnishing to man 
a perfect law of life. 




C^-^l^^^XV 



i86 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



MISSOURI. 

DAVID R. FRANCIS. 

^HE Bible is the highest spiritual expression of human- 
ity. To it has turned, and shall ever turn, the soul 
of the world. 

The greatest tribute to Christ is that all men of all 
creeds concede Him to be the Supreme Type of the Race. 
He was not only man ; He was The Man ; and verily 
God-Man. 




>^^^>^^^e^^- 



MONTANA. 




JOSEPH K. TOOLE. 

BELIEVE in the teachings of the Scriptures, and in 
Jesus Christ as the Author and Finisher of our Faith. 




NEBRASKA. 

JOHN M. THAYER. 

AM free to say that I believe Jesus Christ to be the 
Messiah, King of kings, Emanuel, Prince of Peace, 
Lord God Almighty. 

I believe the Bible to be God's Holy Word ; I also 

believe it to be the fountain source of all law and of justice, 

the foundation of all government. 





SOLDIERS IN THE CIVIL WAR. 



Major-General Sickles, 

Page 412. 

Major-General Howard, " Major-General Merritt, 

Page 2)9 . Page }i6. 

General-in-Chief Schofield, 

Page 398. 

Major-General Pleasonton, Colonel Wilson, 

Page }6i . Page 510. 

Major-General Longstreet, 

Page 291. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 187 

NEVADA. 

^^ C. C. STEVENSON. 

HRIST is a great Saviour. 
C^/ Christianity is a great Moral Reformer. 

The Holy Scripture is a great Moral Code. 



W 



<2? <& t7Usv<~O>*<0o* c 




NEW HAHPSHIRE. 

HIRAM A. TUTTLE. 



^HRIST was a man in all things except the absence of 
sin, and the presence of a mysterious Godhead some- 
how ; I can not tell how, any more than I can tell 
how God exists in other manifestations. As a man 
He suffered and died, and was tempted just like us, as He 
said, and as His apostles declared. Yet God was in Him in 
such a sense that we may properly worship Him as God. 
In becoming man the Godhead in Him was restricted so far 
as to subject Him to suffering and temptation like the rest 
of us ; herein consists His humiliation, and His fitness to be 
a Saviour for us. I regard the Bible as the Word of God, 
and believe it was written under such Divine superintend- 
ence as was requisite for the proper expression of its infalli- 
ble truths, and their preservation from any essential error. 



^r/^^7 





William Lloyd Garrison requested his two children to 
sing during the solemn moments of his soul's departure 
these two hymns : " Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve," 
and " Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings." 



188 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

NEW JERSEY. 

ROBERT STOCKTON GREEN. 

AM by education and conviction a believer in Christ, 
Christianity, and the Bible, if one does not neces- 
sarily include the other. 





NEW YORK. 

ROSWELL P. FLOWER. 

BELIEVE in the Apostle's creed (2). 




"I will tell you what I have done," he continued, taking 
from the table a morocco-bound Bible ; "I have brought this 
with me. I read seven chapters in that Bible every week. 
That is the only way to get a clear idea of it. There are no 
thumb-marks in it because I keep my hands clean, but you 
see I have marked passages all the way through. Yes, that 
old Book" — and the Governor patted it approvingly as he 
laid it down on the table — "is a good revised Bible, and I 
have carried it for a good number of years." — The "Inter 
Ocean" September 4, 1893, i n interview with Governor Flower 
at the Columbian Exposition. 



To his Wife : " Remember, my Eliza, you are a Christian." 
-Last words of Alexander Hamilton. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 189 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

ALFRED M. SCALES. 

HRIST is the eternal Son of God, and the only Re- 
deemer of the world. Christianity is based on the 
Divinity of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, and 
the only true religion. 
The sacred Scripture is the revealed will of God, and 
teaches what man is to believe concerning God, and what 
duty God requires of man. " May the Word of the I^ord 
have free course, and be glorified." 




yiyy^ Jcl^cJu^ 



OHIO. 

JOSEPH BENSON FORAKER. 

^HRIST is Divine, the Bible is the Word of God, and 
s^/ Christianity is the hope of the world. 




s 



s 




OREGON. 

SYLVESTER PENNOYER. 

HE Nicene creed is my creed (1). 



When Sir Humphrey Gilbert went down with his ship, 
he said : " The road to heaven is as short by sea as by land." 



190 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



PENNSYLVANIA. 

o JAMES A. BEAVER. 

^ HRIST, to me, is a Divine Saviour who has made 
^/ atonement for the sins of a lost race. Christianity 
^J_(fc) is a power whose influence and uplifting can be ac- 
counted for only upon the hypothesis of a Divine 
origin, and of an omnipotent spiritual force which pervades 
and controls it. The Bible is the revealed will of God, mer- 
cifully made known to man for his guidance, obedience, and 
salvation. 




JrftOJ^ 



RHODE ISLAND. 

ROYAL C. TAFT. 



BELIEVE that Jesus Christ came to be a propitiation 
for the sins of the world, that through Him all men 
may be saved if they will; that Christianity and the 
Bible in their teachings promote the highest civiliza- 
tion of the world. 





SOUTH CAROLINA. 

JOHN P. RICHARDSON 

AM a Christian. 







i^^^^ 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 191 

SOUTH DAKOTA. 

A. C. MELLETTE. 

CONSIDER the Bible to be the inspiration and the 
substance of western civilization, the Ten Command- 
ments having produced the ancient, and the Sermon 
on the Mount the modern. Christ is the base and 
summit, the Alpha and Omega of the Scriptures. No civil- 
ization ever arose except from a code of religion accepted 
as Divine. No other authority can fix the boundary be- 
tween the right and the wrong, the basis law, morals, and 
society. As the Gospel is loftier than all other ideals in re- 
ligion, so does the Christian civilization it begets surpass all 
others. 




TENNESSEE. 

ROBERT L. TAYLOR. 

BELIEVE that Jesus Christ and the inspired Book 
vouchsafe the only true happiness in this life, and the 
only well-grounded hope of happiness in the life to 



come. 




Tt/o^^/irv^ 



TEXAS. 

J. S. HOGG. 



HAVE faith and am a believer in both Christ and 
the Bible. 




192 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

VERMONT. 

LEVI K. FULLER. 



^ 




YAyS a literary classic, the Bible is the richest of all 
^LQl. books, in all that is beautiful, noble, and precious; 
°i (^ no man can truthfully lay claim to anything like a 
finished scholarship who remains ignorant of its 
ethics, philosophy, poetry, and history. As an authority in 
things spiritual, its teachings point out the way of man's 
salvation from evil effects of sin; answering, as it does, the 
voice of man's conscience, it furnishes the only true stand- 
ard for his morality. In its relation concerning man's future, 
it becomes his torch for dispelling the darkness that hides 
the unseen world from his gaze. So in things spiritual the 
Scriptures contain the rules for man's life, the nourishment 
for his piety, the support for his trials, and encouragement 
for his hopes. The profound spiritual significance of the 
Bible is apprehended by those who, through personal faith, 
come into loving union with Jesus Christ, the only Saviour. 




WASHINGTON. 

ELISHA P. FERRY. 



BELIEVE that Christ is the Son of God; that His 

sincere followers will, through Him alone, in the 

future world, secure eternal happiness. The Bible is 

the Word of God and Christ, transmitted to us by 

Divine revelation through Prophets and Apostles. 

V 




'-^p 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 193 

WEST VIRGINIA. 

C. W. WILSON. 

Y the tests of human evidence alone, the faultless 
purity of the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Saviour, 
and of the Bible, the inspired Word, command, in 
reason, the first place in human hearts anywhere. 



(2^^^^^ 



WISCONSIN. 

JEREMIAH McLAIN RUSK. 

(1830-1893.) 

WAS reared by Christian parents, and taught to be- 
lieve in the Bible and the teachings of Christ. This 
belief has grown upon me in later years, and I feel 
that these inspired teachings are the foundation upon 

which rests everything good we have as a people, and without 

which our government could not exist. 




(1) THE NICENE CREED. 

We believe in one God, the Almighty Father, maker of all 
things both visible and invisible ; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, 
the Son of God, begotten of the Father, very God of very God, 
begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, 
by whom all things were made, who, for us men and our sal- 



194 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

vation, came down and was made flesh, made man, suffered, 
and rose again the third day, went up into the heavens, and is 
to come down to judge the quick and the dead ; and in the 
Holy Ghost. 



(2) THE APOSTLES' CREED. 

I believe in God, the Father Almighty ; . . . and in Jesus 
Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord, who was born of the 
Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary, who under Pontius Pilate 
was crucified and buried, and on the third day rose from the 
dead, ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of 
the Father, whence He is come to judge the quick and the 
dead ; and in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Church, the remission 
of sins, the resurrection of the flesh, everlasting life. 




SIR JAMES ALEXANDER. GRANT, 

Canadian Physician and Geologist. 

HE Bible, the Book of all books, is a wonderful rec- 
ord of Divine authority. It is undoubtedly the 
greatest civilizer of the age. It has an influence for 
good impossible to estimate. Its resources are un- 
bounded. Her Majesty, the Queen of England, said that 
Britain's greatness rested on this basis. Christ and the 
Bible go hand in hand in one great line of duty, for the last 
benefit of humanity. " The Bible holds with Science the 
doctrine of progress and development in nature." In these 
lines of thought there are no truly conflicting interests. The 
more closely examined, the more wonderful in their manifes- 
tations. Rich and poor draw alike from the fountain which 
will never run dry. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



*95 



ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT, 




General-in-Chief during the Civil War; Eighteenth President 
of the United States. (1822-1885.) 

Washington, June 6, 1876. 
.O the Editor 

of the Sunday 

School Times, 

Philadelphia: 
Your favor of yesterday 
asking a message from 
me to the children and 
the youth of the United 
States, to accompany 
your Centennial number, 
is this morning received. 
My advice to Sunday- 
schools, no matter what 
their denomination, is : 
Hold fast to the Bible as 
the sheet anchor of your 
liberties ; write its pre- 
cepts in your hearts, and 
practice them in your lives. To the influence of this Book 
are we indebted for all the progress made in true civilization, 
and to this must we look as our guide in the future. " Right- 
eousness exalteth a nation ; but sin is a reproach to any peo- 
ple." Yours respectfully, 

U. S. Grant. 

I believe in the Holy Scriptures, and whoso lives by 
them will be benefited thereby. Men ma)' differ as to the 
interpretation, which is human, but the Scriptures are man's 
best guide. ... I did not go riding yesterday, although in- 
vited and permitted by my physicians, because it was the 
Lord's day, and because I felt that if a relapse should set in, 
the people who are praying for me would feel that I was not 




I96 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

helping their faith by riding ont on Sunday. . . Yes, I know, 
and I feel very grateful to the Christian people of the land 
for their prayers in my behalf. There is no sect or religion, 
as shown in the Old or New Testament, to which this does 
not apply. — Pages yog, 710, "Military and Civil Life of Gen- 
eral Ulysses S. Grant" by fames P. Boyd. 



ASA GRAY, 

Botanist; Author of Scientific Text-Books; Educator. 

ACCEPT Christianity on its own evidence. . . 

We shall agree in this, that Revelation culminated, 
and for us most essentially consists, in the advent of 
a Divine Person, who, being made man, manifested 
the Divine nature in union with the human ; and that this 
manifestation constitutes Christianity. 

Having accepted the doctrine of incarnation, itself the 
crowning miracle, attendant miracles are not obstacles to be- 
lief. Their primary use must have been for those who wit- 
nessed them. But the very reason on which scientific men 
reject miracles for the carrying on of nature may operate in 
favor of miracles to attest an incoming of the supernatural 
for moral ends. . . . We may add one more to our con- 
fession : We all of us draw more from the exhaustless reve- 
lation of Christ in the Gospels ; but this should suffice for the 
profession of Christianity. — Pages 106 and 108, "Natural 
Science arid Religion," by Asa Gray. 



The last words of Josiah Quincy, once President of Har- 
vard College, were from Addison : 

When all Thy mercies, O my God, 

My rivSing soul surveys, 
Transported by the view, I'm lost 

In wonder, love, and praise. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 197 

HORACE GREELEY, 

Journalist. (1811-1872.) 



^T is impossible to men- 
tally or socially en- 
slave a Bible-reading 
people. The princi- 
ples of the Bible are the 
groundwork of human free- 
dom. 

Your reference to the 
" blameless Christian wife " 
— and what is "more pleas- 
ing in the sight of God "? — 
impels me to say that I must consider Jesus of Nazareth a 
better authority as to what is Christian and what pleases God 
than you are. His testimony on the subject is expressed and 
unequivocal (Matt. xix. 9) that a marriage can be ruthfully 
dissolved because of adultery alone. You well know that was 
not the law either of the Jews or Romans in His day, so 
that He can not have been misled by custom or tradition, 
even were it possible for Him to have been mistaken. I be- 
lieve He was wholly right. 

I am not, therefore, to be classed with those who claim to 
have been converted from one creed to another by studying 
the Bible alone. Certainly, upon re-reading that Book in the 
light of my new convictions, I found therein abundant proofs 
of their correctness in the averments of patriarchs, Genesis 
iii. 15 ; xii. 3 ; Prophets, Isaiah xxv. 8 ; Apostles, Romans v. 
12-21 ; viii. 19-21 ; I. Cor. xv. 42-54; Eph. i. 8-10 ; Col. L 
19-21 ; I. Tim. 2, 3-6 ; and of the Messiah Himself, Matthew 
xv. 13 ; John xii. 32. . . . In the light of this faith the dark 
problem of evil is irradiated, and virtually solved. " Perfect 
through suffering " was the way traced out by the great Cap- 
tain of our Salvation. — Pages 70, 71, and 559, Autobiography' 
of Horace Greeley. 



^o A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JOHN PERDUE GRAY, 

Physician; Thirty Years Superintendent New York Insane Asylum. 

(1825-1886.) 

HE strongest safeguard against suicide is the sense of 
man's responsibility to his Creator for all human con- 
duct, including the keeping of our lives. If the sense 
of accountability to the future is gone, no considera- 
tion of one's duty to one's family, to society, or self can ever 
answer the arguments of the suicide. It is indeed conscience 
which makes cowards of us all ; but it is also the voice which 
points us to the higher responsibility for all our acts. Let 
me warn you against the teachings of any so-called philoso- 
phy and sentimentalism which tends to disregard of the Di- 
vine truths of the Bible, and of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ.- — From a letter of Mrs. Mary F. Gray to S. A. N. 




SIMON GREENLEAF, 

Jurist; Professor of Law in Harvard College. 
C<\XO (1783-1853.) 

/q\F the Divine character of the Bible, I think no man 

\±J who deals honestly with his own mind and heart can 

9 ^^ entertain a reasonable doubt. For myself, I must 

say, that having for many years made the evidences 

of Christianity the subject of close study, the result has been 

a firm and increasing conviction of the authenticity and 

plenary inspiration of the Bible. It is indeed the Word of 

God. — From correspondence with the American Bible Society, 

Cambridge, November 6, 1852. 

The character they portrayed is perfect. It is the charac- 
ter of a sinless Being — One supremely wise and supremely 
good. . . . The doctrines and precepts of Jesus are in 
strict accordance with the attributes of God, agreeable to the 
most exalted ideas which we can form of them, from reason 
or revelation. They are strictly adapted to the capacities of 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 199 

mankind, and yet are delivered with a simplicity wholly Di- 
vine. " He spake as never man spake/' He spake with 
authority, yet addressed Himself to the reason and under- 
standing of men, and He spake with wisdom which men 
could neither gainsay nor resist. — u Examination of the Testi- 
mony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Ad- 
ministered in Courts of Justice, with an Account of the Ti'ial 
of Jesus ," by Simon Greenleaf. 




OLINTHUS GILBERT GREGORY, 

English Mathematician and Philosopher. (1774-1841.) 

>HE Divine nature of Jesus Christ was foretold by 
v some of the prophets, either explicitly when speak- 
ing of the Messiah, or by describing works and char- 
acteristics of God, which the Apostles have declared 
were referable to Jesus Christ. 

II. The prophecies, miracles, language, and conduct of 
Jesus Christ furnish indubitable proof of His Divinity. 

III. The testimony of the Apostles is decidedly in favor 
of the Divinity of our Lord. 

The prevailing opinion among Christians during the first 
three centuries was, that Jesus Christ was really a Divine 
Person and not a mere man. — Chapter XV of "Letters on the 
Evidences, Doctrines, and Duties of the Christian Religion" 
by Olinthus Gregory. 



THOMAS SMITH GRIMKE, 

Lawyer and Philanthropist. (1786-1834.) 

>HERE is a classic, the best the world has ever seen, 
the noblest that has ever honored and dignified the 
language of mortals. If we look into its antiquity ^ 
we discover a title to our veneration, unrivaled in 
our history of literature. If we have respect to its evidences. 




200 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

they are found in trie testimony of miracle and prophecy ; in 
the ministry of man, of nature, and of angels; yea, even of 
" God manifest in the flesh," of "God blessed forever." If 
we consider its authenticity, no other pages have survived 
the lapse of time that can be compared with it. If we ex- 
amine its authority, for it speaks as never man spake, we dis- 
cover that it came from heaven in vision and prophecy, 
under the sanction of Him who is the Creator of all things. 
If we reflect upon its truths, they are lovely and spotless, 
sublime and holy as God himself, unchangeable as His na- 
ture, durable as His righteous dominion, and versatile as the 
moral condition of mankind. — See his ptcblished addresses oit 
"Science, Education, and Literature." 




HUGO GROTIUS, 

Dutch Jurist and Author. ( 1583-1645 ) 

^HERE is no reason for Christians to doubt the credi- 
bility of these Books (of the Bible), because there are 
testimonies in our books out of almost every one of 
them, the same as they are found in the Hebrew. 
Nor did Christ, when He reproved many things in the teach- 
ings of the Law, and in the Pharisees of His time, ever ac- 
cuse them of falsifying the Books of Moses and the Prophets, 
or of using supposititious or altered books. And it can never 
be proved, or made credible, that after Christ's time the 
Scripture should be corrupted in anything of moment, if we 
consider how far and wide the Jewish nation, who every- 
where kept these Books, was dispersed over the whole world. 
— See "The Truth of the Christian Religion" by Hugo Gro- 
tius. 

When Sir Philip Sydney lay fatally wounded at Zutphen, 
he caught the eye of a dying soldier fixed on the water at 
which his own parched lips were placed. "Take it," said he,, 
"thy need is greater than mine." 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



20 r 



FRANCOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME GUIZOT, 

French Historian and Statesman. ( 1787-1874.; 



T was not in memory 
of old and obsolete 
mythologies, but in 
the name of recent 



deeds and 



persons, 



m 



obe- 




dience to laws proceeding 
from God, One and Univer- 
sal, in fulfillment and con- 
tinuation of a contemporary 
and superhuman history — 
that of Jesus Christ, the 
Son of God and the Son of 
man — that Christians of the first two centuries labored to 
convert to their faith the whole Roman world. — Page 89, 
Volume /, "History of France" by F. P. G. Girizot. 

I believe in God, and worship Him without attempting to 
understand Him. I see His presence and His actions, not 
only in the unchangeable laws of the universe, and in the 
secret life of the soul, but in the history of human society, 
and especially in the Old and New Testaments — these rec- 
ords of revelation and of the Divine action of the mediation 
and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of the 
human race. I bow before the mysteries of the Bible and 
the Gospel, and refrain from the discussions and scientific 
solutions by means of which men have tried to explain 
them. I have a firm faith that God allows me to call myself 
a Christian. — Page 17, "Monsieur Girizot in Private Life, 
1 787-1874," by his daughter, Madame De Witt; translated by 
M. C. M. Simpson. 



Baron von Humboldt's dying words: " How grand these 
rays! They seem to beckon earth to Heaven." 




202 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JOHANN GUTENBERG, 

German Inventor of Printing. (1400-1468.) 

OD suffers in the multitude of souls whom His word 
can not reach. Religious truth is imprisoned in a 
small number of manuscript books which confine 
instead of spread the public treasure. Let us break 
the seal which seals up holy things and give wings to 
Truth in order that she may win every soul that comes into 
the world by her word no longer written at great expense by 
hands easily palsied, but multiplied like the wind by an 
untiring machine. 

Yes, it is a press, certainly, but a press from which shall 
flow in inexhaustible streams the most abundant and most 
marvelous liquor that has ever flowed to relieve the thirst of 
men. Through it, God will spread His word; a spring of 
pure truth shall flow from it ; like a new star it shall scatter 
the darkness of ignorance, and cause a light hithertofore un- 
known to shine among men. — Pages 277 and 287," Mem- 
ories of Celebrated Characters" by Alp house De Lamar tine. 



ARNOLD GUYOT, 

Geologist and Naturalist. (1807-1884.) 

^fcTTAY my brother scientist, as well as the believer in 
_ yrJL the Bible, find in the following pages new reasons for 
^<?f^ accepting the truths contained in this sacred docu- 
ment as the revelation of a God of love to man. 
"Through faith we understand the worlds were framed by 
the word of God." Hence the necessity of a direct revela- 
tion of these fundamental truths, to which human wisdom 
could not attain in any other way, and which, without the 
sanction of God's word, were doomed to remain simple 
hypothesis, incapable of proof. 

We often hear paleontologists looking sedulously for the 
missing link between man and the animal. They forget that 



A CLOUD <)]■' WITNESSES. 203 

in the sense- of which they speak there can be no link want- 
ing. The figure and the Structure of the ape is as near as 
need be to be called a link between man and tJjc animal ; 
the difference between the two beings is not in the shape of 
a thumb, or in any particular bodily organ, but in the moral 
nature. An animal as beautiful in form as Apollo Belvi- 
dere, but not possessed of the sense of the invisible, would 
still be an animal and nothing more. A poor, misshapen 
Hottentot, endowed witli these spiritual faculties, rendering 
him capable of becoming a living member of the spiritual 
world, through faith in Christ, would still be a man, belong- 
ing to the upper plane of life, and bound to his Maker by 
ties of love and adoration. — See Preface^ Chapters V and 
XIV of " Creation, or the Biblical Cosmogony in the Light oj 
Modern Science" by Arnold Guyot. 



LORD HADDO, 

Fifth Earl of Aberdeen. (1816-1860.) 

THAXK God that death had not come six years ago, 
before I underwent that sudden and entire change in 
my religious views and feelings. I think much of 
the many assurances that the blood of Christ cleanses 
from all sin. ... If we are His disciples and are desir- 
ous of leaving all for His sake, we are perfectly safe. 
Peace and joy and happiness are before us. . . . Let 
us, then, take His yoke upon us, for " as a hen gathereth her 
chickens under her wings," so will He receive all who come 
to Him in a spirit of meekness, humility, and grateful love. 
197, " Turning Points in the Lives 0/ Eminent ( hrt - 
tians^ by Mary L. Jieck. 

Mozart requested his daughter to sing a Christian hymn 
to comfort him while dying, in these words: "Let me hear 
once more those notes so long my solace and my delight." 



204 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

SAMUEL CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH 
HAHNEMANN. 



German Physician, Founder of the Homoeopathic System. 



G^ (1755-18430 



^ 2)FEFFEL and Euler must lose their sight in order to 
^ Q surpass the most of their fellow beings in poetical 
5 y? and mathematical talent; and if we had space we 
might adduce many other examples of benefits de- 
rived from injurious things, to the glory of Christ. — Page 
182 of his "Lesser Writings" 

Whilst suffering much from the pain and difficulty of 
breathing during his last illness, his wife said to him, "As 
you in your laborious life have alleviated the sufferings of 
so many, and have yourself endured so much, surely Provi- 
dence owes you a remission of all your sufferings." To 
which the follower of the Great Physician replied: "Me ! and 
why mer Each man here below works according to the 
gifts and strength Providence hath given him, and it is only 
before the fallible tribunal of man that degrees of merit are 
acknowledged, not so before that of God ; God owes me noth- 
ing, but I owe Him much, yes, everything!" — u Lectures on 
Theory and Practice of Homoeopathy" by Doctor Dudgeon, 
London, 1853. 

F. T. HAIG, 

English Major-General. 

HAT is the spiritual condition of these millions ? 
There is not one of them that God has not loved ; 
there is not one of them for whom Christ did not 
die; there is not one of them that goes down 
into darkness but the very tears of Christ are, as it were, 
falling upon his head. When we come to this question, we 
want to look at it as Christ sees it ; we want to look at it from 
the point of view of eternity. W T e must get alone with it 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 205 

and our Bibles, and we must answer it. Shame on us, when 
we look at the wonderful, inconceivable love of God toward 
these lost ones, and then look at our own hearts ! God has 
shown us that there is nothing that He will not do, or give, 
or suffer, that men may be saved ; and yet in spite of all 
that infinite wealth of love, men are going down to death 
because you and I do not tell them of the Gospel. — From 
his address, "The Claim of India" delivered at a missionary 
conference, Manchester, and published by the Missionary 
Church Society, London. 




SIR MATTHEW HALE, 

Lord Chief-Justice of England. ( 1609-1676.) 

.VERY morning read seriously and reverently a por- 
tion of the Holy Scriptures, and acquaint yourselves 
with the history and doctrine thereof; it is a Book 
full of light and wisdom, and will make you wise 
unto eternal life. 

Who was it that thus suffered ? It was Christ Jesus, the 
eternal Son of God, clothed in our flesh ; God and Man 
united in one person ; His manhood giving Him capacity 
for suffering, and His Godhead giving a value to suffering; 
and each nature united in one person to make a complete 
Redeemer ; the Heir of all things ; the Prince of Life ; the 
Light that lighteneth every man that cometh into the world. 
As touching His Divine nature, God over all, blessed forever ; 
and as touching His human nature, full of grace and truth ; 
and in both, the beloved Son of the eternal God, in whom 
He proclaimed Himself well pleased. — Pages 56 and 70, 
Volume IV, "British Plutarch." 



During the closing hours of life, Lord Shaftesbury said to 
his daughters : "I am touching the hem of His garment." 
His last words were to his servant: " Thank you." 




206 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

ALBERT VON HALLER, 

G\ ^ Swiss Anatomist and Physiologist. (1708-1777.) 

OD has given me a Book to warn and instruct me. 
But does my heart recognize the Divine voice? 
Saviour of the world, Thou hast shed Thy blood for 
all mankind. Give me to know Thee! 
I read the Bible and study the life of the Saviour suffer- 
ing for us, and then begin to think of my plants and a thou- 
sand useless things. If a journal comes in, I leave the Word 
of God and read till the holy seed is choked, so that but the 
smallest grain remains in the heart. 

On the borders of eternity I see nothing that can assure 
me of my destiny, but the certainty of a Mediator who has 
paid my debt and given me ground to believe that God is 
reconciled to me, and will pardon my faults, and the multi- 
tude of my sins of which I have been guilty during the 
course of a long life. — J. Risdon Bennett, Volume VIII, 
" Short Biographies for the People." 




LORD HALSBURY, 

The Right Honorable Lord High Chancellor of 
England. 

HO fears the investigations made by science into 
the creation of the world? It has proceeded from 
the same Author as the Scriptures. The one 
Author will be found true in both. And if there 
is any question which seems for the moment to make science 
not in accord with Revelation, then all that we can say is 
that we are sorry for science. 

I do hot suppose in the history of the world there has ever 
been a time when it was more necessary, not only for the 
advocates of the Bible and Christianity to be on their guard, 
but for all those whose duty it is to encounter the learned 
ignorance of our time. I believe to the uninstructed mind — 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 207 

the simple mind of him who is only seeking after truth in a 
reverent, humble spirit — the Bible itself is its own best ex- 
ponent, its own best proof. 

I think we may safely, all of us, believe the Bible, though 
we may not always believe what people say about it, which 
is a very different thing. ... In reading the Bible, as 
in reading any other book, remember that language is but a 
feeble instrument of human thought, and that you must 
understand the Bible in the sense in which it is written. I 
advise you not to believe what a writer of novels or any one 
else may say about the Bible ; read it, try to understand it, 
and the Bible will make you free. — Selections from a speech 
while chairman of the Twenty- Second Annual Meeting of the 
Christian Evidence Society. 

When new attacks were made on Christianity, and I looked 
about me and found symptoms of hostility to the Word of 
God, I recognized the fact that in past days there have been 
the same attacks, and yet the Word of Promise abides that 
"the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." I believe 
that the weapon that must conquer is "the Sword of the 
Spirit, which is the Word of God." I am the last one to 
depreciate the use of our reason. We are given our reason 
to examine and prove all things and "to hold fast that which 
is good." But it is impossible not to know that there is a 
self- worship, a sort of deifying the intellect of man above the 
Revelation of God ; and when that evil prevails amongst us, 
let us draw back to the first fountain, to the pure water of 
the well of life, which comes from the Word of God, and it 
will sweep away all this evil. — Extract from an address at 
the Eighty-fourth Anniversary of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society, London, June, 1888. 



I will see Jesus, who created all things ; JESUS, who made 
the world ; I shall see Him as He is ! Yes, I have had the 
light for many years, and oh, how bright it is ! I feel so 
SAFE, SO SATISFIED.— Last words of Sir David Brewster. 



2o8 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 




Lawyer; Statesman; Secretary of Treasury under President Washington. 

(1757-1804.) 



HAVE a tender reli- 
ance upon the mer- 
cy of the Almighty, 
through the merits of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. I am 
a sinner. I look to Him for 
mercy; pray for me. — Page 
252, "American Chris tiaji 
Rulers" by Edward J. Gid- 
dings. 

Let an association be 
formed, to be denominated 
"The Christian Constitu- 
tional Society." Its object to be, first, the support of the 
Christian religion ; second, the support of the Constitution of 
the United States. — Page 267, American Statesmen Series, 
"Alexander Hamilton" by Henry Cabot Lodge. 

I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian 
religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity 
I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can 
prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted 
to the mind of man. — Page 126, "Famous American States- 
men" by Sarah K. Bolton. 

Mortals hastening to the tomb, and once the companions 
of my pilgrimage, take warning, and avoid my errors. Cul- 
tivate the virtues I have recommended. Choose the Saviour 
I have chosen. Live disinterestedly, and would you rescue 
anything from final dissolution, lay it up in God. — From 
President Notfs Eulogy of Alexander Hamilton. 



The last words of Burke, Sir Robert Peel, and Wordsworth 
were : " God bless you !" 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 209 

SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON, 

( ?c.n Scottish Antiquary. ( 1730-1803.) 

CIENCE is fatal to superstition. It is a fortification 
of Scriptural faith. The Bible is the bravest of 
books ; coming from God, and conscious of nothing 
but God's truth, it waits the progress of knowledge 
with calm security. It watches the antiquarian ransacking 
among classic ruins, and rejoices in every medal he discovers 
and every inscription he deciphers ; for, from that rusty coin 
or corroded marble it expects nothing but confirmation of 
its own veracity. In the unlocking of an Egyptian hiero- 
glyphic, or in the unearthing of some implement, it hails the 
resurrection of so many witnesses ; and with sparkling ela- 
tion it follows the botanist as he scales Mt. Lebanon, or the 
zoologist as he makes acquaintance with the beasts of the 
Syrian desert, or the traveler as he stumbles on along lost 
Petra, or Nineveh, or Babylon ; and from the march of time 
it fears no evil, but calmly abides the fulfillment of those 
prophecies, and the forthcoming of those events with whose 
predicted story inspiration has already inscribed in its pages. 
It is not light, but darkness, the Bible deprecates ; and if 
men of science were to search the Scriptures, there would be 
more faith in the earth. — From President Swairts Lecture 
{Indiana University) on " Science and Religion." 



SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON, 

Scottish Philosopher and Metaphysician. 
(1788-1856.) 

EVELATION is a revelation to man, and concern- 
Jsl^ i n & man 5 an d man is only the object of revelation, 
oj^S^ i nasl nuch as he is a moral, a free, a responsible be- 
ing. The Scriptures are replete with testimonies 
to our natural liberty. . . . Man was originally created with 
a will capable of good and evil, though this will, subsequently 




2IO A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

to the fall, has lost much of its primitive liberty. Christian- 
ity thus, by universal confession, supposes as a condition the 
moral nature of its object. — Page 30, "Lectures on Meta- 
physics" by Sir William Hamilton. 

Above all, however, I am confirmed in my belief, by the 
harmony between this doctrine and the Revealed Truth. 
Credo equidem nee van a fides. . . . The foundation of our 
philosophy is humility ; for it is professedly a scientific 
demonstration of that " wisdom in high matters " which the 
Apostle prohibits us even to attempt, and it purposes, from 
the limitations of the human powers, for our impotence to 
show articulately why " the secret things of God " can not 
but be to man past finding out. Humility thus becomes the 
cardinal virtue, not only of Revelation but of Reason. This 
scheme proves, moreover, that no difficulty emerges in theol- 
ogy which had not previously emerged in philosophy; that, 
in fact, if the divines do not transcend what it has pleased the 
Deity to reveal, and willfully identify the doctrines of God's 
Word with some arrogant extreme of human speculation, 
philosophy will be found the most useful auxiliary of the- 
ology. — Page 312, "Philosophy of Sir William Hamilton, 
Professor of Logic and Metaphysics in Edinburgh Univer- 
sity" arranged and edited by O. W. Wright. 



SIR WILLIAM ROWAN HAMILTON, 

Irish Astronomer and Geometer. (1805-1865.) 

/PtfZ Observatory, April 3, 1863. 

- ^ fe/T^ Dear Aubrey :* ... I have just been reading 
„ yfjL your Hymn . . . It is a comfort, these Colenso days, 
^ <f^ to have an opportunity of refreshing, by a perusal 
of it, a sympathy so sincere in the most vital doc- 
trines of Christianity, which we both profess to believe : 

*The above letter was written by Sir William Rowan Hamilton to 
Aubrej- DeYere, the poet. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 211 

" O Lamb of God ! on whom alone 
Earth's penal weight of sin was thrown. 
Have mercy, Saviour, on Thine own ; 
For Thou art Man. The Virgin gave 
To Thee her breast, the earth a grave. 

" O Lamb of God! on whom was laid 
The debt of all worlds never paid. 
Have mercy, Saviour ! hear and aid ; 
For thou art God 

" Thus, Christ, we turn from all to Thee, 
Miserere Domine." 

The " For Thou art Man," the " For Thou art God," and 
the closing u Miserere Domine" appear to be the most practical 
teachings of the Christian religion ; or, let me say with greater 
reverence, among the most, if it be presumptuous and hazard- 
ous to distinguish. 

These words may be seen on his monument : 

" Here lie the mortal remains of 

Sir William Rowan Hamilton, LL. D., 

Royal Astronomer of Ireland. 

He was born Aug. 4, 1805. 

He died Sept. 2. 1865. 

' In the love of God, looking for 

the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ 

unto Eternal Life.'—fude 21.'' 

— "Biography of Sir William Rowan Hamilton," by Robert 
Percival Greves, Volume HI 



JOHN HAMPDEN, 

English Statesman. (1594-1643 ) 

HOUGH I could not away with the governance of the 
Church by bishops, I think its doctrines in the 
greater part primitive and conformable to God's 
Word, as in Holy Scriptures revealed. 
Save me, O Lord, if it be Thy good will, from the jaws of 




212 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



death. Pardon my manifold trangressions, O Lord! . . . 
Lord Jesus, receive my soul ! O Lord, save my country ! 
O Lord, be merciful to . ! — Last words. Page 381, 

"Memorials of John Hampden, His Party, and His Times" 
by Lord Nugent. 



GEORGE FRIEDRICH HANDEL, 

German Musical Composer. (1685-1759.) 




E once said 
to a friend, 
speaking 
of compos- 
ing the Hallelujah 
Chorus in the 
"Messiah," "I did 
think I did see all 
heaven before me, 
and the great God 
Himself." 

An account of 
his last days, told 
by an eyewitness, 
is here given: 
" He was bright 
as usual, but when 
the performance 
of the " Messiah" was over he was taken with faintness, which 
he at once felt was the beginning of the end. He was taken 
home and put to bed, and never rose again. His medical 
attendant said that the dying man had a great desire to de- 
part on Friday, "in hopes," to quote his own words, "of 
meeting his good God, his sweet (precious) Saviour, on the 
day of His resurrection." A personal friend and legatee, re- 
ferring to his closing hours, says: "He died as he lived, a 
good Christian, with a true sense of his duty to God and 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 213 

man, and in perfect charity with all the world." A descrip- 
tion of his statue in this connection is in place : In the 
upper part of the arch there is an angel playing on a harp, 
and in the background an organ. The composer stands up 
as if listening, with a pen in hand, and his left resting on a 
score of the " Messiah," on which the first bars of " I know 
that my Redeemer liveth," may be traced. — " The Worlds 
Workers" by Eliza Clark. 




JONAS HANWAY, 

English Traveler and Philanthropist. (1712-1786.) 

IS religious thoughts are brought out in an inscrip- 
tion which he had cut in a brass plate at the age of 
fifty-one. The following is the text : 

I believe that my Redeemer liveth, 

And that I shall also rise from 

The grave. 

Jonas Hanway, 

Who, trusting in that good Providence 

Which so visibly governs the world, 

Passed through a variety of fortunes with 

Patience. 

Living the greater part of his days 

In foreign lands ruled by arbitrary- power, 

He received the deeper impression 

Of the happy constitution of his own country ; 

Whilst 

The persuasive laws contained in the 

New Testament, 

And the consciousness of his own depravity, 

Softened his heart to a sense 

Of the various wants of his 

Fellow creatures. 

Reader, 

Inquire no further. 

The Lord have mercy on his soul and thine ! 

See " Remarkable Occurrences in the Life of Jonas Hanway, 
1787." 




214 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

FRIEDRICH VON HARDENBERG, 

German Author and Philosopher. (1772-1801.) 

.HE history of Christ is as surely poetry as it is his- 
tory. Sin is indeed the real evil in the world. All 
calamity proceeds from that. He who understands 
sin understands virtue, Christianity, himself, and the 
world. 

The Bible begins gloriously with Paradise, the symbol of 
youth, and ends with the everlasting kingdom, with the holy 
city. The history of every man should be a Bible. 

Christianity is opposed to enjoyments in the proper sense. 
It goes forth from the common man. It inspires the great 
majority of the limited on the earth. It is the germ of all 
democracy, the highest fact in the domain of the popular. — 
Quotations from "The Fragments." 



WILLIAM HARKNESS, 

Astronomer, and President of the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science. 

'N reply to your inquiry, " What think ye of Christ and 
the Book? " I am happy to say that I accept the Bible 
as the Word of God, and the teachings of Jesus Christ 
and His apostles set forth therein. 



W-HkJK^m. 



WILLIAM RAINEY HARPER, 

President of the University of Chicago. 

HE books of the Holy Scripture form the record of a 

progressive series of revelations of God to men, made 

partly through events of history of which God was a 

preeminent factor, and partly through men who were 

recipients of Divine communications or otherwise specially 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



215 



under the influence of the Divine Spirit. The Bible as a 
whole is a unique Divine revelation, God's message to men 
respecting His nature and will, and the relations of men to 
Him. In Jesus Christ God so dwelt that He is a perfect rev- 
elation of God. Christ is God manifest in human nature, 
and as such is the rightful Lord and only Saviour of men. 




MARK WALROD HARRINGTON, 

Astronomer, and Chief of Weather Bureau. 

DO not hesitate to express my extreme admiration foi 
the character of Jesus Christ — the most perfect Man 
that ever lived, the only Saviour of humanity — and my 
entire confidence in His teachings, as given in the 
New Testament. 




WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON,* 

Ninth President of the United States. (1773-1841.) 

DEEM the present occasion sufficiently important and 
solemn to justify me in expressing to my fellow citi- 
zens a profound reverence for the Christian religion, 
and a thorough conviction that sound morals, religious 
liberty, and a just sense of religious responsibility are essen- 
tially connected with all true and lasting happiness. — See his 
Inaugural Address of March 4, 1841. 

* In his last, and as now we may almost call it, his dying message, from 
the station where God had placed him, he earnestly commends Chris- 
tianity—the religion of the cross— the atoning system of a crucified Re- 
deemer.— Page 132 of "Pulpit and Gr ve" edited by E.J. Wheeler. 



2l6 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 




BENJAMIN HARRISON, 

Twenty-third President of the United States. 

N answer to a 
letter of in- 
quiry whether 
he was the au- 
thor of the following 

sentiment : " That 

I am a firm believer 

in the religion of 

Jesus Christ and the 

Holy Scriptures as 

the Word of God, is 

not a virtue of mine. 

I imbibed it at my 

mother's breast and 

can no more divest 

myself of it than I 

can of my nature," 

he writes : " The statement which you say you have seen 

credited to me (the above), and which you copy, is not, I 

think, any reproduction of anything I have ever said, and 

yet all that it implies as to religious impressions derived 

from a faithful Christian mother is true." 




V iU<v^H3*rt^0, 



X 



DAVID HARTLEY, 

Physician, Philosopher, and Founder of the English Association School 
of Psychologists. (1705-1757.) 

|N like manner, if God has sent His beloved Son, Jesus 
Christ, to be an example to the world, to die for it, 
and to govern it, it can not be an indifferent thing 
whether we attend to its call or no. The neglect of 
revealed religion, especially in persons of authority, is the 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 21 7 

same thing as declaring it false ; for if it be true, the neglect 
of it is as high treason against the majesty of heaven. He 
that honors not the Son can not honor the Father, who hath 
sent Him with sufficient credentials. And, accordingly, if 
we consider the second Psalm as a prophecy relating to 
Christ, which it certainly is, those kings and magistrates 
who rise up against God and His Christ, intending to shake 
off the restraints of natural and revealed religion, must ex- 
pect to be broken in pieces like a potter's vessel. — Page 596, 
" Observations of Man; his Frame, his Ditty, and his Expecta- 
tions" by David Hartley. 



THE RIGHT HONORABLE THE EARL OF 
HARROWBY, 

English Statesman ; Philanthropist, and President of the British and 
CV-n Foreign Bible Society. 

,-vF^DAST year there were at the central depot Bibles 
C lV printed in no less than two hundred and seventy-six 

< ^o different languages of the world — one of the most 
marvelous feats of enterprise and literary power ever 
seen. — From an address at Hanley, Staffordshire, February 
28, 1889. 

It is just one of those moments in the world's history 
when we must push on and seize the new languages, and 
enlist them in the service of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus 
Christ. — Declared at the Annual Meeting of the British and 
Foreign Bible Society, May, 1892. 

I feel as keenly as ever that England's greatness and the 
magnitude of her empire were owing very largely to devo- 
tion to that Book which has formed the characteristics of 
her people, and fitted them to be the pioneers not only of 
Christianity but of civilization all over the world. — A sentence 
of an Address before the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
May, 1893. 

My faith in the Bible gets stronger and stronger as time 
goes on. We know what attacks are made on it, but there 



2l8 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

is in our minds an answer to those attacks. The evidence 
which, in middle life, is most touching and convincing is that 
supplied by the death-beds of beloved relatives and friends ; 
by the valued head of the family ; by a beloved sister or 
brother, and others, who have been cheered and enlightened, 
made triumphant in the prospect of death, by that wonderful 
Book, the Bible. To me that is sufficient proof of its Divine 
authority. — From a Speech at the Eighty-second Anniversary 
of the British and Foreign Bible Society, May, 1886. 




HENRY HARTSHOR.NE, 

Physician and Surgeon. 

AVING nearly finished the proverbial span of man's 
years, after varied experiences at home, and glimpses 
of many of the wonders of the world abroad ; having 
read much in literature, science, and philosophy, in- 
cluding most of the worst attacks against the Christian re- 
ligion by its enemies, my judgment is, that the only thing 
that can make life worth living is the present peace and 
eternal hope which are in Christ Jesus, whose coming, fore- 
told in the Old Testament and set forth in the New Testa- 
ment, brought life and immortality to light in the world. 




THOMAS HASTINGS, 

Musician, and Writer of Hymns. (1784-1872.) 



THE SEPULCHRE ON SABBATH MORNING. 

*OW calm and beautiful the morn 
That gilds the sacred tomb, 
Where Christ the crucified was borne, 

And veiled in midnight gloom ! 
Oh, weep no more the Saviour slain, 
The Lord is risen, He lives again ! 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 2IO, 

Ye mourning saints, dry every tear 

For your departed Lord ; 
" Behold the place, He is not here," 

The tomb is all unbarred ; 
The gates of death were closed in vain, 
The Lord is risen, He lives again ! 

Now cheerful to the house of prayer 

Your early footsteps bend ; 
The Saviour will himself be there, 

Your Advocate and Friend : 
Once by the law your hopes were slain, 

But now in Christ ye live again ! 



SIR CHRISTOPHER HATTON, 

Lord High Chancellor of England. (1540-1591.) 

^T is justly accounted a piece of excellent knowledge to 
understand the law of the land, and the customs of our 
country ; but how much more excellent it is to know 
the statutes of heaven and the laws of eternity; the 
immutable and perpetual laws of justice and righteousness; 
to know the will and pleasure of the great Monarch and 
universal King of the world! "I have seen an end of all 
perfection ; but thy commandments, O God, are exceedingly 
broad." — Page 103, "The Power of Religion" by Lindley 
Murray. 

SIR HENRY HAVELOCK,* 

British Major-General. (1795-1857.) 

HINGS are in a most perilous state. If we succeed 
in restoring anything, it will be God's special mercy. 
. . . I must now write as one whom you may see 

no more, for the chances of war are heavy at this 




* 



A staff officer once remarked to Lord Hardinge, after a certain victory, 
" Havelock, my lord, is every inch a soldier." " Every inch a soldier," 
came the quick response. " Yes, Havelock is every inch a soldier ; but he 
is more, and he is better : he is every inch a Christian." — Page 437, "Life 
and Labor,'" by Samuel Smiles. 



220 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

crisis. Thank God for my hope in the Saviour. We shall 
meet in heaven. — To his wife, page 284/' 'Life of General 
Havelock" by J. T. Headley. 

Flee in your troubles to Jesus Christ. The experience of 
thirty years enables me to say : No man had so kind a 
Friend as He, or so good a Master. View Him not at a dis- 
tance, but as a prop and a comforter ever at hand, and He 
will requite your confidence by blessings illimitable. — "Life 
of Sir Henry Havelock" by James Macaulay, Volume VI ^ of 
"Short Biographies for the People." 




FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN, 

German Musical Composer. (1732-1809.) 

B was a cheerful Christian. When an old man, he said 
with emphasis : " When I think of my God, my heart 
dances within me for joy, and then my music has to 
dance, too." 

Emperor Franz once asked him which of his two oratorios 
he preferred: 

"The ' Creation'! " 

"Why?" 

" Because in 'The Creation ' angels speak, and their talk is 
of God." 

In composing, when he felt the ardor of his imagination 
decline, he rose from his work and resorted to prayer — an 
expedient which, he was wont to say, never failed to revive 
him. All his scores were inscribed with the words: "In 
nomine Domini" or "Soli Deo Gloria" while at the conclu- 
sion is written his "Lans Deo"\ but "I was," he declares, 
" never so pious (from?n) as during the time that I worked 
on ( The Creation.' Daily I fell on my knees, and begged 
God to vouchsafe to me strength for the fortunate outcome 
of the work." 

When the Society of Amateurs, in Vienna, gave ' The Crea- 
tion," Haydn for the first in some years, and for the last 
time, appeared in public March 27th, 1808. " Surrounded by 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



221 



the great and by his friends, by poets and the fair sex, hear- 
ing the praises of God imagined by himself, and his own 
praises mingled with those of the Divinity, the good old man 
mnst have believed himself in Heaven." Salieri conducted. 
At the sound of the introduction to the words "And there 
was light," the audience burst into loud applause. Haydn 
pointed up, exclaiming : "It came from above." — U A Score 
of Famous Composers" by Nathan Haskell Dole. 



NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, 

Author and Poet. (1804-1864.) 




C THE STAR OF CALVARY. 

G ^ /d~T is the same infrequent star, 
oH The all mysterious light, 
"Q That, like a watcher gazing on 
The changes of the night, 
Toward the hill of Bethlehem, took 
Its solitary flight. 

It is the same infrequent star ; 

Its sameness startleth me ; 
Although the disk is red a-blood 

And downward silently 
It looketh on another hill, 

The hill of Calvary. 



222 



A. CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



Mount Calvar}- ! Mount Calvary ! 

All sorrowful still, 
That mournful tread, it rends the heart 

With an unwelcome thrill ; 
The mournful tread of them that crowd 

Thy melancholy hill ! 

Behold, O Israel ! behold ! 

It is no human One 
That ye have dared to crucify. 

What evil hath He done ? 
It is your King, O Israel, 

The God-begotten Sou ! 

A wreath of thorns ! a wreath of thorns ! 

Why have ye crowned Him so ! 
That brow is bathed in agony, 

'Tis veiled in every woe ; 
Ye saw not the immortal trace 

Of Deity below. 




WILLIAM HAZL1TT, 

English Author. (1778-1830.) 

.HERE is something in the character of Christ of 
more sweetness and majesty, and more likely to work 
a change in the life of man by the contemplation of 
the idea alone, than may be found in history, whether 
actual or feigned. 

His religion was the religion of the heart. His whole life 
and being were imbued, steeped in the one word — charity ; 
but it was the spring, the well-head from which every 
thought and feeling gushed into act; and it was this 
breathed a mild glory from His face in that last agony on 
the Cross, when this meek Saviour bowed His head and died, 
praying for His enemies. He was the first and true Teacher 
of humanity, for He alone conceived the idea of a pure hu- 
manity. He redeemed man from the worship of that idol — 
self — and instructed him by precept and example to love his 
neighbor as himself. — "Literature of the Age of Elizabeth" 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 223 

RUTHERFORD B1RCHARD HAYES, 

Nineteenth President of the United States; Major-Gener?! in Civil War. 

(1822-1893.) 



AM a firm believer 
in the Divine 
teachings, perfect 
example, and aton- 
ing sacrifice of Jesus 
Christ. 

I believe also in the 
Holy Scriptures as the re- 
vealed Word of God to 
the world for its enlight- 
enment and salvation. 




ISAAC ISRAEL HAYES, 

Arctic Explorer, Surgeon, and Naturalist. (1832-1881.) 

HEREVER men have sought to plant, among bar- 
barous peoples, the emblem of the only true reli- 
gion, there has she gone before — opening the gates 
and smoothing the pathway. She has lifted the 
curtain of ignorance from the human mind, and Christianity, 
following her advancing footsteps, has banished from the 
West the ancient superstitions, and the dark Pantheism of 
the East, and the Fetich worship of the savage tribes are 
passing away. The light of science and the Gospel of our 




224 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

Christian faith have moved hand in hand together through 
the world, and, overriding the barriers of custom, have, with 
unselfish zeal, steadily unfolded to the human understanding 
the material interests which concern this life, and to the hu- 
man soul the sacred truths of Revelation which concerns the 
life to come. — Last page of u The Open Polar Sea; a Narrative 
of a Voyage of Discovery towards the North Pole" by Isaac 
Israel Hayes. 

PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE, 

Poet. (1830-1886.) 



A SUNDAY CHRISTMAS. 

MYSTERY of mysteries ! On this holy morn 
The Prince of an eternal realm of love, 
Cy <f^ The Godhead veiled in lowliest guise was born, 
While the far heavenly music pealed above. 

Triumph of triumphs ! this auspicious day 
The stern earth-agony subdued and fled. 

Behold the dawn of His immortal sway, 
The glorious resurrection from the dead. 

That birth was marvelous ! but strange and grand, 

More strange and grand, was the Great Conqueror's rise 

From the dim confines of the shadowy land, 

Whose gloom had palsied faith, and dimmed the skies. 

I have contemplated Christ in all symbols, and I love and 
venerate Him in them all. In all there shine His great and 
abiding love, His wonderful condescension, His gentleness, 
and His majesty. Gratitude demands, and love compels me — 
all that is holiest impels me — to tell the people of the love, 
the great compassion, of this tender, though most mighty 
God. I am rapidly nearing eternity ; its gates are now open 
to me ; but if I be permitted to add one iota to the praise of 
the beauty and magnanimity of Christ, to make men see and 
understand Him as He is, to love this once voluntary suffer- 
ing but now risen Saviour, the all-merciful God, I should 
feel gratitude great and inexpressible ; but His will be done! 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 225 

H. HEGARD, 

Professor of Philosophy, University of Copenhagen. 

^N the second edition of his works, recently published, 
maybe found this Introduction: " The experience of 
life, its sufferings and griefs, have shaken my soul, and 
have broken the foundation upon which I formerly 
thought I could build. Full of faith in the sufficiency of 
science, I thought to have found in it a sure refuge from all 
contingencies of life. The illusion vanished ; when the tem- 
pest came which plunged me into sorrow, the moorings, the 
cable of science, broke like a thread. Then I seized upon 
that Divine help which many before me have laid hold of. I 
sought and found peace in Christ. Since then I have cer- 
tainly not abandoned science, but I have assigned to it an- 
other place in my life." 




HEINR1CH HEINE : 

German Poet. (1799-1856.) 



HEN I was a little boy, while I sat on my mother's 
knee, I believed in God the Father, who rules up 
there in heaven, good and great, who created this 
beautiful earth, and the lovely men and women 
there ; who ordained for sun, moon, and stars their courses. 
When I got bigger, I comprehended a great deal more than 
this, and grew intelligent — a believer on the beloved Son, 
who loved us, and revealed His love to us ; and for His re- 
ward was crucified by the people. — - u Essays and Criticism of 
Heine" by Matthew Arnold. 

I attributed my illumination entirely and simply to the 
reading of a Book ; yes, and it is a plain old Book, modest as 
Nature itself, and also as natural; a Book of an unassuming 
work-a-day appearance, like the sun which warms us, like 
the bread which nourishes us — a Book that looks on us trust- 
fully and benignantly as an old grandmother who daily reads 



226 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

it with her dear, trembling lips, and with her spectacles on 
her nose ; and this Book is called briefly the Book — the Bible. 
Justly is it named the Holy Writ. He who has lost his God 
can find Him again in this Book, and he who has never 
known Him, is here struck by the breath of the Divine Word. 
— See Preface to his Work on "German Philosophy." 



SIR ARTHUR HELPS, 

English Historian and Essayist. ( 1817-1875.) 

OMPETITION will not cease to be urgently em- 
ployed as a motive — indeed as a first motive — until 
the mass of mankind become real Christians. 

It may seem a somewhat abrupt transition to re- 
vert to religions considerations, but I can not conclude with- 
out remarking that competition is not a thing much encour- 
aged in the Best of Books, and by the Divinest of Teachers. 
There is a command — the great command — about loving one 
another. — From his Essay on "Competition" 







JOSEPH HENRY, 

Physicist, and Late Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute. 
(1797-1878.) 

HAVE not given much attention to the nr.nutiae of 
theology ; possibly not as much as I ought ; but as to 
the Christian scheme in the main outlines — that there 
is a God, an infinite Spirit; that man is made up of 
body and soul; that there is an immortal life for man reach- 
ing beyond the present world ; that the power and love of 
God are brought into relation with the weakness and sinful- 
ness of man in the Lord Jesus Christ — of these great truths I 
have no doubt. I regard the system which teaches them as 
rational beyond any of the opposing theories which have 
come under my view. Upon Jesus Christ — the One who 
affiliates Himself with man — upon Him I rest my faith and 
hope. — Page 19, "Memorial of Joseph Henry" 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



227 



PATRICK HENRY, 

Statesman and Orator. ( 1736-1799.) 




DOCTOR, I 

PrJvxl 
^A^\J wish you to 

observe how 
real and ben- 
eficial the religion of 
Christ is to a man 
about to die. 

This is all the in- 
heritance I can give 
to my dear family. 
The religion of 
Christ can give them 
one which can make 
them rich indeed. 

Here is a Book 
worth more than all 
others ever printed; 
yet it is my misfortune never to have read it with proper 
attention and feeling till lately. 

I am, however, much consoled by reflecting that the re- 
ligion of Christ has, from its first appearance in the world, 
been attacked in vain by all the wits, philosophers, and wise 
ones, aided by every power of man, and its triumphs have 
been complete. — From his latest Biographer, Prof. Tyler. 



SIR JOHN FREDERICK WIILLAM 
HERSCHEL, 



3^r 



English Astronomer and Philosopher. (1792-1871.) 



Ylx^'Lih human discoveries seem to be made only for the 
purpose of confirming more strongly the truths 
^(cp which come from on high, and contained in the 
sacred Scriptures. — Page 72, u Allibo7ie^s Prose Quo- 



tations? 



228 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

There can not be two truths in contradiction to one 
another, and a man must have a mind fitted neither for 
scientific nor for religious truth whose religion can be dis- 
turbed by geology, or whose geology can be distorted from 
the character of an inductive science by a determination to 
accommodate its results to preconceived interpretations of 
the Mosaic cosmogony. — From his "Discourse on Natural 
Philosophy" 

ABRAM STEVENS HEWITT, 

Statesman, and Ex-Mayor of New York. 

F Christianity is to do its work, and the Word of God 
its Divine mission, it must be accomplished by inspir- 
ing each individual with the deep conviction of their 
truth, and I should have no faith in the religious spirit 
of any man who adopted the Christian religion and its Book 
because he found other people doing so. If all professing 
Christians will lead consistent lives, and walk in the pre- 
cepts of the Holy Scriptures, and all clergymen will preach 
the plain Gospel of Christ as it was once delivered to the 
saints, who can tell the great results, or measure the world- 
wide influence upon the hearts and lives of the great mass 
of humanity who are now without hope and without God in 

the ™ w ' c^L^^-^S 




BENJAMIN HARVEY HILL, 

United States Senator. (1823-1882.) 

NOW give and bequeath to my wife and children that 
which some of them now possess, and which, I assure 
them, in full view of death, is far richer than gold, 
and more to be desired than all human honors. God is 
a living God, and Christ came into the world to save sinners. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 229 

I beg them to have faith in Jesus, for by this faith alone can 
they be saved. — Item in his will. From correspondence with 
Benjamin H. Hill, Jr., of Atlanta, Georgia. — ►S. A. N. 




DAVID JAYNE HILL, 

President of the University of Rochester. 

O philosophy can be permanently satisfactory to man 
which does not include among its data his deepest 
spiritual experience as recorded in the Hebrew and 
Christian Scriptures, and the realization of his ideals 
as embodied in the person of Jesus Christ. These, there- 
fore, are persistent elements in the highest thought of man- 
kind, and have everywhere uplifted and purified it. Both 
Christ and the Bible are confessedly human. In all that ap- 
peals to the senses, Jesus is the Son of Mary, and the Scrip- 
tures are the work of human hands ; but behind the material 
manifestations through which both have influenced men, 
there is the moving of an energy which, like the soul in the 
body, can not be expressed in these lower terms; and, judged 
either by its intrinsic dignity or its transfigured effects, this 
energy is of a quality so far above the human that we can 
not otherwise name it than by calling it divine. Thus, while 
feeling as I always have, that the deepest truth is but im- 
perfectly and crudely grasped by our theological conceptions, 
I bow with reverence before the truth itself, and find it in 
the Written and the Living: Word. 



A/ 



J~^^^^<J^C^ 



For forty-five years I have made it a rule, at noon, or as near 
to it as I could, to read a chapter in the Bible and spend fif- 
teen minutes in private devotion. My son, farewell ! Go, 
now, and seek God's grace. — Among the last words of Theo- 
dore Frelmghuysen. 




230 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

HENRY WASHINGTON HILLARD, 

Lawyer, Congressman, and Diplomat. 

4BOVE all, my prayer is, that as long as our poster- 
ity shall continue to inhabit these mountains and 
plains, and hills and valleys, they may be found 
living under the sacred institutions of Christianity. 
. . . Then it will be ours to give the priceless benefits 
of our free institutions and the pure, healthful light of the 
Gospel back to the dark family which has so long lost both 
truth and freedom ; then may Christianity plant herself 
there, and while with one hand she points out to the Poly- 
nesian isles, rejoicing in the late recovered treasure of re- 
vealed truth, with the other present the Bible to the Chi- 
nese. Let us not, like some of the British missionaries, give 
them the Bible in one hand and opium with the other, but 
bless them only with the pure Word of Truth. — From a 
speech in the Twenty-ninth Congress. See page 614, "The 
American Review" Volume IV — New Series. 



JAMES HINTON, 

English Aural Surgeon and Author. (1822-1875.) 

FIND the Bible the secret of all truth; all I truly 
know I derive from it ; and yet I would say to every 
man : Do not believe the Bible if you can not see 
clearly that it is true. Deal freely, boldly by it. Do 
not be afraid ! It is a friend, not an enemy. If you do not 
treat it straightforwardly, it can not do its service for you. 
— From page 214 of his Life. 



Dying words of John Adams : "It is the glorious 4th of 
July, God bless it! God bless you all! It is a great and 
glorious day. Jefferson still survives." Jefferson died the 
same day, his last words being : "I resign my soul to God, 
and my daughter to my country." 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 23 1 

EBENEZER ROCKWOOD HOAR, 

Lawyer and Statesman. 

DO not think anything new can be said in response to 
your question, "What has Jesus Christ done for hu- 
manity?" Certainly it can not by me. But, that 
your courteous note may not be wholly unanswered, I 
will adopt the language of an early disciple, which I could 
not undertake to improve, to mention one crowning bless- 
ing: "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor 
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor 
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, 
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is 
in Christ Jesus our Lord." — Christian Register, Boston, De- 
cember 22, 1887. 

GEORGE FRISBIE HOAR, 

C\ n United States Senator. 

^yOU ask me to answer in a few words the one great 
XA question of all history and of all destiny: What 
^22) has been the influence upon humanity of a perfect 
example of duty, love, and love commended to man- 
kind as such by the Creator of the universe, and of a perfect 
statement, sufficient for all human occasions, reduced to rule 
and illustrated by parable within the comprehension of all 
sane understandings of the moral law and of human duty, 
accompanied by the promise of immortality in which com- 
pliance with that law shall bear fruit in the loftiest happiness 
of which human nature is capable ? This I understand to be 
the character, teaching, and promise of the Jesus Christ of the 
four Gospels, as distinguished from Jesus Christ of theology. 
— Christian Register, Boston, December 22, 1887. 



Dying words of Sir Walter Scott: "Be religious, be a good 
man ; nothing else can give you any comfort when you come 
to lie here." 



232 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

SAMUEL HOARE, 






<1A 



Member of Parliament. 



O one who makes inquiry in India can fail to be sat- 
isfied that a vast work is going on — yes, a vast work 
in the progress of Christianity, and a vast work in 
the unsettlement of the Mohammedans and Hindus. 
I am sure you will all feel that there is only one 
religion to put in its place, and that is the religion of Christ. 
. You hear of the leading Hindus coming to our 
old, tried missionary there and stating, "Our religion is 
doomed. Your religion is certain to be victorious." You 
find the Bible read over in India, not only by Christians but 
by Hindus. I was told of a clerk asking a missionary for a 
Bible. The missionary said, "But you are a Hindu; why 
do you want a- Bible?" "Because," said he, "when I was 
at the University I was in great distress, so great that I felt 
as if I could destroy my life. I consulted one of my teachers, 
who was a Hindu, and he said, ' There is only thing for you 
to do to set your mind at rest, and that is to secure a Bible and 
read it.' " This man had, with five others, all Hindus, week 
after week, carried on a Bible-reading by themselves. . . 
. The one great lesson I learnt in India respecting the 
mission work there is this : we must have patience. If you 
all present have faith in the power of the Gospel, I ask you 
all to be patient ; and then with the utmost confidence, you 
may look forward with more blessed results. — Church Mis- 
sionary Intelligencer, June, 1892. 



JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND, 

Author and Poet. (1819-1881.) 

.HE current popular theology can not possibly be 
saved without saving the current and popular view 
of the Bible. 

The old-fashioned, highly intellectual and largely 
theological sermon will go out, and the simple preaching of 




r 



-is-:- 



.4 



JESUS AND THE CHILDREN 



THEY brought young children to Him, that he should touch them: and His 
disciples rebuked them that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was 
much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto Me, 
and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, 
Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not 
enter therein. And He took them up in His arms, put His h?nds upon them, and 
blessed them. — Mark x, 13-16. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 233 

Jesus Christ, as the Saviour of the world, and the hortatory 
appeal, will come in. 

The cure for the moral evils of the world is just as demon- 
strably in the Christian religion as the elements of vegetable 
life are in the soil. Penitence, forgiveness, reformation, the 
substitution of love for selfishness as the governing principle 
of life, piety towards God, and good-will to men — in short, 
the adoption of Christ as Saviour, King, exemplar, teacher — 
this is Christianity — the whole of it. — Extracts from "Every- 
Day Topics" by J. G. Holland. 

The first Book upon which I lay my hand is the Bible. 
In this Book God condescends to speak to man in words. 
. . . Out of this exhaustless magazine of all that is Divine in 
human life do the nations of Christendom draw their food. 
Forth from this sprang our civilization. Out of this germinal 
mass has grown all good institutions, and by it is human 
life to be wholly regenerated. As in nature, so in Revelation, 
there is no such thing as beauty for beauty's sake; all beauty 
is for man's sake. — Erom chapter on "Fashion, Art, and 
Life" in "Plain Talks" by J. G. Elolland. 



HOLY ALLIANCE. 

ALEXANDER I., EMPEROR OF RUSSIA (1777-1825) ; FRAN- 
CIS I., EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA C1768-1835) ; AND 
FREDERICK WILLIAM III., KING OF 
PRUSSIA (1 770-1840.) 

HE following is the text of the Holy Alliance (1815) 
of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, for the maintenance 
of peace, and the establishment of the existing dy- 
nasties : 

In the name of the Most Holy and Indivisible Trinity: 

Their Majesties, the Emperor of Austria, the King of 

Prussia, and the Emperor of Russia, having, in consequence 

of the great events which have marked the course of the 

three last years in Europe, and especially of the blessings 




234 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

which it has pleased Divine Providence to shower down upon 
these States, which place their confidence and hope on it 
alone, acquired the intimate conviction of the necessity of 
founding' the conduct to be observed by the powers in their 
reciprocal relations upon the sublime truths which the Holy 
Religion of our Saviour teaches. 

They solemnly declare that the present act has no other 
object than to publish, in the face of the whole world, their 
final resolution, both in the administration of their respective 
states, and in their political relations with every other govern- 
ment, to take for their sole guide the precepts of that Holy 
Religion; namely, the precepts of justice, Christian charity, 
and peace, which, far from being applicable only to private 
concerns, must have an immediate influence on the Councils 
of Princes, and guide all their steps, as being the only means 
of consolidating human institutions, and remedying their 
imperfections. In consequence, their Majesties have agreed 
on the following articles : 

Art. i. Conformably to the words of the Holy Scriptures, 
which command all men to consider each other as brethren, 
the three contracting Monarchs will remain united by the 
bonds of a true and indissoluble fraternity, and considering 
each other as fellow countrymen, they will on all occasions, 
and in all places, lend each other aid and assistance; and re- 
garding themselves towards their subjects and armies as 
father of families, they will lead them, in the same spirit of 
fraternity with which they are animated, to protect religion, 
peace, and justice. 

Art. 2. In consequence, the sole principle in force, whether 
between the said Governments or between their subjects, 
shall be that of doing each other reciprocal service, and of 
testifying, by unalterable good will, the mutual affection with 
which they ought to be animated, to consider themselves all 
as members of one and the same Christian nation, the three 
allied Princes looking on themselves as merely delegated by 
Providence to govern three branches of the one family, 
namely : Austria, Prussia, and Russia ; thus confessing that 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 235 

the Christian world, of which they and their people form a 
part, has, in reality, no other Sovereign than Him to whom 
alone power really belongs, because in Him alone are found 
all the treasures of love, science, and infinite wisdom, that is 
to say, God, our Divine Saviour, the word of the Most High, 
the Word of Life. Their Majesties consequently recom- 
mend to their people with the most tender solicitude, as the 
sole means of enjoying that peace which arises from a good 
conscience, and which alone is durable, to strengthen them- 
selves every day more and more in the principles and exercise 
of the duties which the Divine Saviour has taught to man- 
kind. 

Art. 3. All the powers who shall choose solemnly to avow 
the sacred principles which have dictated the present act, 
and shall acknowledge how important it is for the happiness 
of nations, too long agitated, that these truths should hence- 
forth exercise over the destinies of mankind all the influence 
which belongs to them, will be received with equal ardour 
and affection into this holy alliance. 

Done in triplicate, and signed at Paris, the year of grace, 
18 1 5, 26th September. 

(Iv. S.) Francis. 

(L. S.) Frederick William. 

(Iv. S.) Alexander. 
— From the Annual Register, Vol. 58 {London, 18 16). 



HENRY HOME, 

(LORD KAMES.) 

Scottish Philosopher and Jurist. (1696-1782.) 

)UT why worship the Cross, which is supposed to be 
that upon which our Saviour suffered? That cross 
ought to be an object of hatred, not of veneration. 
If it be urged that as an instrument of Christ's 
sufferings it was salutary to mankind, I answer, why was not 
also Pontius Pilate reverenced, Caiphas, the high priest, and 
Judas Iscariot? — Footnote, page 42, "Elements of Criticism," 
by Henry Home {Lord Karnes). 




236 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

THOMAS HOOD, 

English Poet, Wit, and Miscellaneous Writer. ( 1798-1845.) 

T further evidence is necessary to refute some unrea- 
sonable and groundless doubts that have rested on his 
memory, I would add one more proof: As a little 
child, my first prayer was learnt from my father's lips ; 
my first introduction to the Bible, which he honored too 
much to make a task-book, was from spelling out the words 
of the first chapter of the Sermon on the Mount as it lay on 
his study table ; and my deepest and holiest teachings, too 
sacred for more than a mere illusion, were given often in the 
dead of night, when I was sitting up, sometimes, alone, by 
my father's dying bed. These are strong words and facts; 
but they are called forth, not unnecessarily, by the impres- 
sion that exists, not in one instance, but in twenty, as to my 
father's disbelief and scepticism, a doubt that will now surely 
be set to rest forever by the simple and unvarnished truth 
of those who knew him longest and best. He lay for some 
time calmly, but breathing slowly and with difficulty. My 
mother, bending over him, heard him say faintly : "O Lord, 
say: 'Arise, take up thy cross, and follow me!'" — Pages 457, 
460, Volume X, " The Works of Thomas Hood, with Memorials 
Prefixed, and Edited with Notes, by his Son and Daughter" 



JOSEPH COERTEN HORNBLOWER, 

Jurist, and Professor at Law at Princeton College. 
r^ (1777-1864.) 

/jET this precious Volume have its proper influence on 
'(ClV the hearts of men, and our liberties are safe, our 
c ^ country blessed, and the world happy. There is not 
a tie that unites us to our families, not a virtue that 
endears us to our country, nor a hope that thrills ycur bos- 
oms in the prospect of future happiness that has not its 
foundation in this sacred Book. It is the charter of charters 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 237 

— the palladium of liberty — the standard of righteousness. 
Its Divine influence can soften the heart of the tyrant, can 
break the rod of the oppressor, and exalt the humblest peas- 
ant to the dignified rank of an immortal being — an heir of 
eternal glory. Fellow citizens, friends of liberty ! will you 
not rejoice, then, with me, in the triumphs of the Bible, and 
bless the day that gave to our country a society whose be- 
nevolent object is to extend the influence of the Scriptures 
throughout the world ! — From " Testimony to the Vahte of the 
Sacred Scriptures" published by the American Bible Society. 




SAMUEL HOUSTON, 

Major-General and United States Senator. 
(1793-1863.) 

HEN hard-drinking "Sam Houston" married his 
second wife, he found that "virtuous woman" de- 
scribed by King Lemuel's mother: "The heart 
of her husband trusteth in her. She doeth him 
good and not evil all the days of her life. Her husband is 
known in the gates when he sitteth among the elders of the 
land. She openeth her mouth with wisdom ; and the law of 
kindness is upon her tongue." Her devotion made him a 
temperate man, and her consistent religious life led him to 
respect the principles of Christianity that she endeavored to 
follow. Six years after his marriage, General Houston rep- 
resented Texas in the United States Senate. The Sunday 
after his arrival in Washington he attended religious serv- 
ice. . . . Approaching the pastor after service, he said 
that respect for his wife, one of the best Christians on earth, 
had brought him there. The pastor expressed the hope that 
deeper feelings than those which bound him to his wife 
might soon bind him to the house of God. Houston 
answered with a warm pressure of the hand. For eight years 
he was found every Sunday morning while in Washington 
seated in his pew near the pulpit. One Sunday a sermon from 



238 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

the text : " Better is he that ruleth his spirit than he that tak- 
eth a city," aroused him to decide it was his duty to make a 
public profession of his faith in Jesus Christ as the Saviour 
of men, sent by God to teach the way of life. He accepted 
Him heartily as his Lord and Saviour, declaring that for the 
future His teachings and example should dominate his life. 
"Youths* Companion" January 14, 1892. 




JOHN HOWARD, 

English Philanthropist. ( 1726-1790.) 

MAGNIFY the Lord, my soul, and my spirit, rejoice 
in God, my Saviour! His free grace, unbounded 
mercy, love unparalleled, goodness unlimited ! And 
oh, this mercy, this love, this goodness exerted for 
me! Lord God, why me? When I consider and look into 
my heart, I doubt, I tremble. Such a vile creature; sin, 
folly, and imperfection in every action ! O dreadful thought 
— a body of sin and death I carry about me, ever ready to 
depart from God ; and with all the dreadful catalogue of sins 
committed, my heart faints within me, and almost despairs. 
But yet, oh my soul, why art thou cast down? why art thou 
disquieted? Hope in God! His free grace in Jesus Christ! 
Lord, I believe ; help my unbelief ! Shall I limit the grace 
of God? Can I fathom His goodness? Here, on this sacred 
day, I once more, in the dust, before the Eternal God, ac- 
knowledge my sins heinous and aggravated in His sight. I 
would have the deepest sorrow and contrition of heart, and 
cast my guilty and polluted soul on Thy sovereign mercy in 
the Redeemer. Oh, compassionate and Divine Redeemer, 
save me from the dreadful guilt and power of sin, and accept 
my solemn, free, and, I trust, unreserved full surrender of 
my soul, my spirit, my dear child, all I am and have into 
Thy hands. — Pages 1 18-120, " The Christian Life, Social and 
Individual" by Peter Bayne. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 239 

OLIVER OTIS HOWARD, 

Major-General of the United States Army. 

GO to the Scriptures daily for spiritual food, and have 
done so for thirty-five years. God (as revealed to me 
in the crucified, the risen, and the ascended Christ) 
meets all my personal wants — I mean those that per- 
tain to my soul. These wants thus met are but a drop in an 
ocean compared with the unstinted blessings which I observe 
are granted to other souls through the sufficiency of Jesus 
Christ, the all and in all. 



r> 




WILLIAM HOWITT, 

English Author and Poet. (1795-1879.) 

HRIST appeared — the career of Paganism was checked 
— the fate of Judaism was sealed. A character and a 
religion was placed before the eye of men, hitherto in- 
conceivable in the beauty and philanthropy of their 
nature. Unlike all other founders of a religious faith, Christ 
had no selfishness, no desire of dominance. — "History of 
Priestcraft" by William Howitt. 

It matters not whether it be in the Church or State — the 
Bible is the great reformer. You may mow down whole 
crops of reformers as you would grass, but if you leave the 
root of all reform, the Bible, in the earth, it will raise up ten 
times more. Make what laws and destroy what liberties you 
will, if you leave the Bible free it will again leaven the whole 
lump of society, and your labor is in vain. It is abroad ; it 
is in every man's house, on every man's table ; and its still 
small voice is perpetually whispering, " Woe to all tyrants, 
and oppressors of God's children!" It is the voice of God, 
and the power of God; and against it what voice or what 
wisdom can prevail ? From the Bible breathes on every 



240 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

soul near it the eternal sentiments of liberty, independence, 
and contempt of death. While the Bible is free, man is free ! 
— "English Literature of the Nineteenth Century" by Charles 
D. Cleveland. 

SAMUEL HUBBARD, 

Lawyer. (1785-1847.) 

( N the fear of my God and Saviour I undertake the 
duties of this office (Associate Justice of the Massa- 
chusetts Supreme Court). I cast myself on Him, and 
look to Him for wisdom and strength. I pray Him to 
give me skill to discern, and integrity to judge right. 

I am told that we have five minutes to spare. Much 
may be done in five minutes. In five minutes Judas be- 
trayed his Master, and went to his own place. In five min- 
utes the thief on the cross repented, and went with his 
Saviour to Paradise. No doubt many of those before me 
did that act in five minutes which brought them to this 
place. In five minutes you may repent and go to Paradise, 
or will you imitate Judas, and go to the place where he is? 
My five minutes have expired.* — Pages 279 and 280 of 
"American Christian Riders" by Edward f. Giddings. 



THOMAS HUGHES, 

Author of " Tom Brown's School Days," " Tom Brown 
at Oxford," etc. 

HIS Bible, this Book of the chosen people, taken as a 
whole, is, in short, the written revelation of God. 
This being so, there can be no other inspired book 
in the same sense in which the Bible is inspired, un- 
less we, or some other world, are not redeemed, require an- 
other redemption and another Christ. But as we, and all 
worlds, are redeemed, and Christ is come, and God has re- 
vealed His name and His character in Christ so that we 
*A talk to the prisoners of the state penitentiary. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 241 

know Him, the Bible is and must remain the inspired Rook 
for all time. . . . There may be another Homer, Plato, 
Shakespeare ; there can be no other Bible. 

I was bred as a child to look upon Christ as the trne and 
rightful King and Head of onr race, the Son of God, and 
the Son of Man. When I came to think for myself I found 
the want, the longing for a perfect righteous king and head, 
the deepest of which I was conscious — for a being in whom I 
could rest, who was in perfect sympathy with me and all men. 
. Then the teaching which has sunk into me uncon- 
sciously rose up and seemed to meet this longing. If that 
teaching were true, here was He for whom I was in search. 
I turned to the records of His life and death. I read and 
considered, as well as I could, the character of Christ, what 
He said of Himself and His work; His teachings, His acts, 
His sufferings. Then I found that this was indeed He. 
Here was the Head, the King, for whom I longed. The 
more I read and thought, the more absolutely sure I became 
of it. This was He. I wanted no other then. I have 
never wanted another since Him. — Pages 230 and 224 of 
"True Manliness ," from the writings of Thomas Hughes. 
Selected by E. E. Brown. 



FREDERICK HKINRICH ALEXANDER 
HUMBOLDT,* 

German Naturalist. ( 1769-1859.) 

HRISTIANITY has materially contributed to call 
forth this idea of the unity of the hitman race, and 
has tended to exercise a favorable influence on the 
humanization of nations in their morals, manners, and 

*His brother, Karl Wilhelm Humboldt, German Statesman and 
Philologist (1767-1835), once said: "Religion is implanted in the very 
nature of man. The religion of Christ has come down from above by the 
special will of God. It has, however, not deprived man of freedom on 
this point, but rather has conferred it upon him in a still higher degree.'' 
— Page 219, "Familiar Quotations from German and Spanish Authors" 
by Chauford Tail Ramage. 




242 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

institutions. ... In delineating the great epoch of the 
history of the universe . . . together with the begin- 
nings of Christianity, it would be impossible not to direct 
special attention to the manner in which the religion of 
Christ enlarged the views of mankind, and to the mild and 
long-enduring influence which it exercised on general, intel- 
lectual, moral, and social development. 

This sentiment is nobly and vividly manifested in all the 
splendor of lyric poetry in the Psalms of David, and in the 
schools of the seers and prophets, whose exalted inspiration, 
almost wholly removed from the past, turns its prophetic 
aspirations to the future. . . . The lyrical poetry of the 
Hebrews, from the very nature of the subject, is grand and 
solemn. ... As descriptions of nature, the writings of 
the Old Testament are a faithful reflection of the character 
of the country in which they are composed, of the alternations 
of barrenness and fruitfulness, and of the alpine forests by 
which the land of Palestine was characterized. ... It 
might be said that one single Psalm (the 104th) represents 
the image of the whole Cosmos. . . . Similar views of 
the Cosmos occur repeatedly in the Psalms (Psalms lxv, 
7-14, and lxxiv, 15-17), and more fully perhaps in the 37th 
chapter of the ancient, if not the antemosaic, book of Job. 
The meteorological processes which take place in the atmos- 
phere, the formation and solution of vapor according to the 
changing direction of the wind, the play of colors, the gen- 
eration of hail and of the rolling thunder are described with 
individualizing accuracy. . . . The little book of Ruth 
presents us with a charming and exquisitely simple picture 
of nature. Goethe spoke of it "as the loveliest specimen of 
epic and idyl poetry which we possess." — Pages 567, 568, 
411, 415, Voliune II, "Cosmos" by Alexander Von Humboldt ; 
translated from the German by E. C. Otte. 



He that loves Christ ought to think nothing desirable 
but what is most pleasing to Supreme Goodness. — Boerhaave's 
last ivords. 



A CI.OUD OF WITNKSSKS. 



243 



VICTOR MARIE HUGO, 

French Poet and Romance Writer. (1802-1885.) 



THE BOY KING'S PRAYER. 





O dear Jesus ! thus 
Bowed at the Cross where Thou didst bleed for us. 
I swear to hold the truth that now I learn, 
Leal to the loyal, to the traitors stern, 
And ever just and nobly mild to be, 
Meek scholar of that prince of Chivalry; 
And here thv shrine bear witness, Eord, for me. 



'HE poet ought to 
have but one model, 
Nature; only one 
guide, Truth. O f 
all books which circulate 
among men, only two ought 
to be studied by him — 
Homer and the Bible. In 
them we find the whole 
creation considered under a 
twofold aspect. In Homer, 
by the genius of man ; in 
the Bible, by the Spirit of 
God. 
As for the law of blood for blood, gentlemen of the jury, 
I have fought it all my life. All my life — and so long as 
there remains a particle of blood in my body — I will fight 
against it with all my power as a writer, with all my deeds and 
votes as a legislator. I declare it (pointing to Christ on the 
crucifix above the judge's bench), I declare it before that Vic- 
tim of the punishment of death who is there, who sees us, 
and who hears us! I swear it before the gibbet, to which, 
nearly two thousand years ago, for an eternal lesson to the 



244 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

generations, human law nailed Divine law. — From a speech 
in the Constituent Assembly against capital punishment, voting 
for its abolition, in "Brief Biographies of French Political 
Leaders" 



SIR WILLIAM HUNTER. 

English Statesman. 

HE great object of this Conference is to stimulate and 
encourage all evangelistic agencies in pressing for- 
ward in obedience to the last command of our risen 
Saviour, k4 Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all 
nations," especially in those vast regions of the heathen 
world in which the people are still " sitting in darkness and 
in the shadow of death," without a preached Gospel, or the 
written Word of God. — Introduction to Volume /, lk Report of 
the Missionary Conference," London, 1888. 




EDWARD HYDE. 

(FIRST EARL OF CLARENDON.) 

English Historian and Statesman. | 1608-1674.) 

F it be possible, as much as lieth in yon, live peaceably 
with all men, was one of the primitive injunctions of 
Christianity (Rom. xii, 18), and comprehends not 
onlv particular and private men (though, no doubt, all 
gentle and peaceable nations are most capable of Christian 
precepts, and most affected by them), but kings and princes 
themselves. St. Paul knew well that the peaceable inclina- 
tions and dispositions of subjects could do little good if the 
sovereign princes were disposed to war, but if they desired 
to live peaceably with their neighbors, their subjects can not 
but be happy. And the pleasure that God Himself takes in 
that temper needs no other manifestation than the promise 
our Saviour makes to those who contribute towards it in His 



' 



A cloud OF WITNESSES. 245 

Sermon on the Mount: Blessed arc the peacemakers, for 

they shall be called the children of God (Matt, v, 9). — Page 
62, Volume ///, "Half-Hours with the Best Authors," by 
( s harles Knight. 

JOHN JAMES INGALLS, 

United States Senator (1873-1891); President of Senate pro tempore 

(1886.) 

"TGTOLTAIRE said that if there were no God it would 

/A/c) be necessary for man to invent one. The sentence 

-$f0 seems irreverent, but it contains a profound truth. 

God is indispensable. As the race advances, il 

invests Him with higher attributes, and effaces its previous 

conception. 

The God of the Puritans, who was a consuming fire, punish- 
ing the innocent for the offenses of the guilty with inexorable 
severity, has been succeeded by a beneficent leather whose 
tenderness is infinite as His power; a Legislator for the uni- 
verse who recognizes the limitations of the laws which Ik- 
has made. 

The Bible, as His message to mankind, has the highest 
claim to reverence and research. Modern interpretation has 
disclosed its true functions and increased its value- as a guide 
to the conduct of men and nations. Reason has given the 
inspired vScriptures a more impressive place than superstition 
has ever demanded for them, and has revealed Christ through 
His teachings, His example, and His passion as the most 
influential character in history. 




JteaMd. 



I am the king of Sweden who do seal the religion and lib- 
erty of the German nation with my blood. — Last words of 
King Adolphus at the battle of Lutsen. 



246 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 




WASHINGTON IRVING, 

Author. (1783-1859.) 

ASHINGTON 
IRVING, . . 

. the kind neigh- 
bor, the faithful 
friend ; and what is better 
than all, the sincere disciple 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. . 
. . On more than one oc- 
casion, when questions of 
ecclesiastical order or sub- 
jects of a kindred nature 
were debated, he has inter- 
posed, saying, " Let us live 
in love. We are all striving 
for the same object, and going to the same place of rest, and 
why should there be contentions by the way?" He had a 
broad and catholic spirit, which he manifested not only in 
words but in deeds. In quiet simplicity, with a heart over- 
flowing with kindness toward all men, and filled with humil- 
ity before God, with a mild and amiable nature rendered 
more lovely by the religion of Jesus Christ, which he firmly 
believed and consistently professed, he passed his days 
among us till they closed with the closing year. It is most 
delightful to think that the patriarch's work was done, and 
he was waiting for the call of the blessed Master. — Eulogy at 
his Funeral Service, from " Grave and Pulpit." 




Just before the death of Sebastian Bach, the German com- 
poser, he dictated an organ chorale to the words of the hymn, 
" Before thy throne herewith I come." 

Gainsborough, the English painter, before dying, uttered 
these words : " We are all going to heaven, and Vandyke is 
of the party." 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



247 




ANDREW JACKSON, 

Seventh President of the United States. (1767-1845. 

,HE Bible is true. 

Upon that sacred 

Volume I rest my 

hope of eternal sal- 
vation through the merits of 
our blessed Lord and Sa- 
viour Jesus Christ. 

First, I bequeath my body 
to the dust whence it comes, 
and my soul to God who 
gave it, hoping for a happy 
immortality through the 
atoning merits of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, the Saviour of 
the world. — First clause of 
his will. See " Compilation 
of Speeches in Memory of 
General Jackson" by B. M. Dusenberry. 

My dear children, do not grieve for me ; it is true, I am 
going to leave you; I am well aware of my situation. I have 
suffered much bodily pain, but my sufferings are but as 
nothing compared with that which our blessed Redeemer 
endured upon the accursed Cross, that all might be saved 
who put their trust in Him. ... I hope and trust to meet 
you all in Heaven, both white and black — both white and 
black. — Death-bed Testimony. See Pages 174 of "Famous 
American Statesmen" by Sarah K. Bolton. 




Madame De Stael's last words: "My father waits me on 
the other shore. I have loved my God, my father, and my 
country. Good night!" 

Horas Mann's dying words to his children: "When you 
wish to know what to do, ask yourselves what Christ would 
have done in the same circumstances." 





248 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON, 

("STONEWALL") 

Confederate Major-General. (1824-1863.) 

HE subject of becom- 
ing a herald of the 
Cross has often seri- 
ously engaged my at- 
tention, and 1 regard it as 
the most noble of all profes- 
sions. It was the profession 
of the Divine Redeemer, and 
1 should not be surprised 
were I to die upon a foreign 
field, clad in ministerial ar- 
mor, fighting under the ban- 
ner of Jesus. What could be 
more glorious ! But my con- 
viction is that I am doing good here, and that for the present 
1 am where God would have me be. Within the last few 
days 1 have felt an unusual religious joy. I do rejoice to 
walk in the love of Go J.. My heavenly Father condescended 
to use me as an instrument in getting up a large Sabbath 
school for the negroes here. He has greatly blessed it, and, 
1 trust, all who are connected with it. — "Life and Letters by 
his Wife" Mary Ann Jackson. 



FR1EDER1CH HEINRICH JACOBI, 

German Philosopher; President of the Academy of Science, 
Munich, 1804. (1743-1819.1 

KNOW nothing snblimer and profounder than the 
saving of the New Testament, "Our life is hid with 
Christ (the God-man) in God." 
I do believe on account of miracles; namely, on ac- 
count of the miracles of liberty, which is a continuous mir- 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 249 

acle on which Christianity is founded — the reception of the 
Holy Spirit at Pentecost. 

I know no deeper philosophy than that of Paul in the 
seventh chapter of Romans. In the merely natural man 
dwells sin. Regeneration is the basis of Christianity. He 
who abolishes the doctrine of grace from the Bible abolishes 
the Bible. 

Unquestionably, our life, if there is any true life in us, is 
hidden deep within us. Nevertheless, it commands abso- 
lutely its own preservation ; it commands that we bring it 
forth to the light. — Selections from the "Flying Leaves" 



JOHN JAY,* 

Diplomat. 

v>7T<aMONG the last letters written by the late John Jay 
1 f^Y was one in 1826 to the corporation of the City of 
Cj (q)^> New York, asking him to unite with them in the 
celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of American 
Independence. Jay, in his reply, expressed his " earnest hope 
that the peace, happiness, and prosperity enjoyed by our 
beloved country may induce those who direct her national 
counsels to recommend a general and public return of praise 
to Him from whose goodness these blessings descend." His 
son, Judge William Jay, records in the life of his father that, 
at a time when his recovery seemed hopeless, he was urged 
by one of the family to tell his children on what foundation 
he rested his hopes, and from what source he drew his con- 
solation. He replied simply : " They have the BOOK." 

Jay was the second President of the American Bible Soci- 
ety, the Hon. Elias Boudinot, President of the Continental 
Congress, having been the first. Boudinot and Jay were 
both of Huguenot descent, and exhibited the devotion of 
their ancestors for the Bible. Jay was the President, also, of 
the Westchester County Bible Society, an association ante- 

(*) Grandson of the First Chief-Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court. 



250 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

rior in date to the National association, and in that office he 
was succeeded for many years first by one of his sons, and 
then by one of his grandsons. 




"It is high time to wake out of sleep !" This gathering 
of citizens from distant parts, representing the millions who 
hold to the Bible, and cherish the institutions founded upon 
its inspired truths, shows that the nation is awakening to the 
perils, foreign and domestic, which threatens the purity of its 
Christian civilization. 

Its intellectual and moral strength in our Revolutionary 
struggle were recognized by the world, and Burke rightly 
attributed that strength to the character of the emigrants 
from various lands exhibiting "the dissidence of dissent and 
the Protestantism of the Protestant religion." They brought 
with them the best and most heroic blood of the peoples of 
Europe — of the Hollanders, the Waloons of Flanders, the 
Huguenots of France, the English, Welsh, Scotch, and Irish, 
of the Norwegians and Swedes, the Germans and the Swiss, 
of the Bohemian followers of John Huss, of the Albigenses 
and Waldenses of the Italian Alps, of the Salzbury exiles, the 
Moravian brothers, with refugees from the Pallatinate, Alsace 
and southern Germany. They all brought the Bible, for 
which they and their ancestors had been ready to suffer and 
to die ; and their devotion to that Book descended to the Con- 
tinental Congress, which, a week before it was driven from 
Philadelphia, ordered an importation of twenty thousand 
Bibles. At the Centennial celebration, at Philadelphia, of 
the Declaration of Independence, the Acting Vice-President, 
Ferry, said that the American statesmen who had to choose 
between the royal authority or popular sovereignty had 
been inspired by the truth uttered on Mars Hill, and repeated 
in the opening prayer of the morning, that " God hath made 
of one blood all nations of men." — Pages 8 and 9, "National 
Perils and Opportunities" 1887. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



251 



JOHN JAY, 



First Chief-Justice of the United States Supreme Court. 
(1745-1829.) 




( N forming 
and set- 
tling my 
belief rel- 
ative to the 
doc trines of 
Ch ristianity, 
I adopted no 
articles from 
creeds but 
such only as, 
on careful ex- 
amination, I 
found to be 
confirmed by 
the Bible. . . . 
At a party in 
Paris, once, the 
question fell 
on religious 
matters. In the 

course of it, one of them asked me if I believed in Christ ? 
I answered that I did, and that I thanked God that I did. — 
Page 360," John Jay" " American Statesman Series" by George 
Pellew. 

By conveying the Bible to people thus circumstanced we 
certainly do them a most interesting kindness. We thereby 
enable them to learn that man was originally created and 
placed in a state of happiness, but, becoming disobedient, was 
subjected to the degradation and evils which he and his 
posterity have since experienced. The Bible will also inform 
them that our gracious Creator has provided for us a Re- 
deemer, in whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed ; 



252 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



that this Redeemer has made atonement " for the sins of the 
whole world," and thereby reconciling the Divine justice with 
the Divine mercy, has opened a way for onr redemption and 
salvation ; and that these inestimable benefits are of the free 
gift and grace of God, not of our deserving, nor in our power 
to deserve. — From an address while President of the American 
Bible Society, 1834, the last office he ever filled. 





THOMAS JEFFERSON, 

Third President of the United States. ( 1743-1826/ 



MORE beautiful or 
precious morsel of 
ethics* I have 
never seen ; it is a 
document in proof that / am 
a real Christian ; that is to 
say, a disciple of the doc- 
trines of Jesus. — Page 142, 
" Lives of the Presidents of 
the United States" by John 
S. C. Abbott and Russell H. 
ConwelL 

They are the result of a 
life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from that 
antichristian system imputed to me by those who know 
nothing of my opinions. To the corruptions of Christianity 
I am indeed opposed, but not to the genuine precepts of 
Jesus Himself. ** — Page 277, Volume HI, "Library of Amer- 
ican Literature." 

1. The doctrines of Jesus are simple and tend to the 
happiness of man. 

2. There is only one God, and He is all perfect. 

* Collected by himself from the sayings of Jesus, and arranged in a 
blank book. 

** To Benjamin Rush, on the Christian Religion. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 253 

3. There is a future state of rewards and punishment. 

4. To love God with all the heart and thy neighbor as 
thyself is the sum of all. These are the great points on 
which to reform the religion of the Jews. — "Life of Jeffer- 
son" by ShmncJier. 

No one sees with greater pleasure than myself the progress 
of reason in its advance toward rational Christianity, and my 
opinion is that if nothing had ever been added to what 
flowed from His lips, the whole world would at this day 
been Christian. . . . Had there never been a commen- 
tator there never would have been an infidel. I have little 
doubt that the whole country will soon be rallied to the unity 
of our Creator, and, I hope, to the pure doctrines of Jesus 
also. — Pages 283 and 284, Volume III, "Library of American 
Literature" 




SOAME JENYNS, 

English Author, and Member of Parliament, 1741-1780. 
(1704-1787.) 

>HE Scriptures are the history of a revelation from 
God ; the revelation itself is derived from God ; the 
history of it is the production of men, and therefore 
the truth of it is not the least affected by their falli- 
bility, but depends on the internal evidence of its own super- 
natural excellence. 

That Christ suffered and died as an atonement for the sins 
of mankind is a doctrine so constantly and so strongly en- 
forced through every part of the New Testament that who- 
ever will seriously peruse those writings and deny that it is 
there, may, with as much reason and truth, after reading the 
works of Thucydides and Livy, assert that in them no mention 
is made of any facts relative to the histories of Greece and 
Rome. — From his essay, U A View of the Internal Evidence 
of the Christian Religion" Volume XIV, "The Evangelical 
Family Library." 



254 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



RICHARD HENRY JESSE, 

President of the University of Missouri. 

AM asked what I think of Christ and the Bible. The 
question pierces to my inner personal belief. 

This conviction abides with me constantly and 
firmly : that of myself I am a sinner utterly undone, 
but that through the infinite mercy of God, as declared by 
Jesus Christ, I may attain to higher life here and hereafter; 
and likewise this belief: that the Holy Scriptures are the 
authoritative revelation of God. 

7 




ffac4y/ x 





A. J. MOUNTENEY JEPHSON, 

African Explorer with Stanley. 

E had been toiling through a long march and were 
parched and dried up when, in the distance, we 
saw a huge pile of rock, rising like an island from 
the plain, in the shadow of which we camped. 
Never did I so well understand what is said in Isaiah — u The 
shadow of a great rock in a weary land " — as an ideal of rest 
and relief. The words came into my mind directly I 
sighted it, and I felt pleasure in repeating them as I actually 
sat in the shadow of the great rock with the burning "weary 
land " around. These sayings and similes in the Bible are so 
much more vividly understood when a person has been in 
these countries. I remember once, when I had nothing to 
read, Stanley lent me his Bible, and after having been in the 
country on the plain about Kavallis with people who lived 
amongst their flocks and herds, I could exactly see the lives 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 255 

of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as described in the Bible; 
scenes I had remembered on these mountain plains rose be- 
fore me on reading Genesis. These seemed to have fresh 
beauty in descriptions which before I had passed without 
notice. — Pages 386 and 387, u Emtn Pasha and the Rebellion 
at the Equator" by A. J. Mounteney Jephson. 



ANDREW JOHNSON, 

Seventeenth President of the United States. (1808-1875.) 

DO believe in ALMIGHTY GOD ! And I believe also 

in the BIBLE. 

Let us look forward to the time when we can take 

the flag of our country and nail it below the Cross, 
and there let it wave as it waved in the olden times, and let 
us gather around it and inscribe for our motto: " Liberty and 
Union, one and inseparable, now and forever," and exclaim, 
Christ first, our country next! 

Is there a crusade to be commenced against the Church to 
satiate disappointed party vengeance? Are the persecutions 
of olden times to be revived? Are the ten thousand temples 
that have been erected, based upon the sufferings and atone- 
ment of our crucified Saviour, with their glittering spires 
wasting themselves in the very heavens, all to topple and to 
fall, crushed and buried beneath the ravings of party excite- 
ment? Is man to be set upon man, and in the name of God 
lift his hand against the throat of his fellow? . . . Are 
the fires of heaven that have been lighted up by the Cross, 
and now 7 burning upon so many altars consecrated to the 
true and living God, to be quenched in the blood of their 
innocent and defenseless worshipers, and the gutters of our 
streets made to flow with human gore? This is but a faint 
reality of what is shadowed forth in the gentleman's speech. 
— Pages 274, 247, and 34, "The Life and Public Services of 
Andrew Johnson" by John Savage. 



«5 6 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



SAMUEL JOHNSON, 

English Lexicographer and Writer. (1709-1784.) 




T appears evident that 
L the writers ol the Old 
Testament were the 
original and best writ- 
teis, and that from them are 
borrowed nnmerons ideas at- 
tributed to the poets them- 
selves. — See Pi . Johnson on 
the "Oriental Eloquence of 
Collinsr 

Almighty God, the Giver 
of all good tilings, without 
whose help all labor is in- 
effectual, and without whose 
grace all wisdom is folly, grant, I beseech Thee, that in this 
undertaking Thy Holy Spirit may not be withheld from me, 
but that I may promote Thy glory and the salvation of my- 
self and others; grant this, O Lord, for the sake of Thy Son, 
Jesus Christ. Amen. — A prayer before entering on the work 
of -The Rambler^ 

I bless Thee for creation, preservation, and redemption; 
for the knowledge of Thy Son, Jesus Christ. . . . Create 
in me a contrite heart that I may worthily lament my sins 
and acknowledge my wickedness, and obtain remission and 
forgiveness through the satisfaction o\ Jesus Christ. . . . 
Grant this, Almighty God, for the merits and through the 
mediation of our most holy and blessed Saviour, Jesus 
Christ; to whom, with Thee and the Holy Spirit, three 
Persons in one God, be all honor and glory, world without 
end. Amen. — Extracts from birthday prayer, transcribed 
June 26, 176S. See "Prayers and Meditations" VoL //, of 
vorks of Samuel Johnson, with an Essay on //is Life and 
Genius } by Arthur Murphy. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 






WILLIAM PRESTON JOHNSTON, 

President Tulane University "i Louisiana 

REGARD the Scripture as a revelation by God for the 

illumination of the human soul, and as a chart for the 

practical conducl of man, to be found 1>\ each individ- 

ual searching foi Lt. 

My opinion oi Jesus Christ is a deep seated belief, and is 

contained in the Apostolic creed, I accept His divinity and 

and trust His Saviourship to the verj end. He is to me 

11 the Way, the Truth, and the Life." 







72? f./,sJ, . //>/„*/,, 



V«-T_ 



RICHARD C. JONES, 

President of the University of Alabama. 

BELIEVE Jesus Christ to be the only begotten Sou 

of God; that he descended from heaven, and took 

upon Iliiuscll the form of man, and died that fallen 

man might be saved; that lie sits now on the right 

hand of God interceding for us, and that it is only through 

His merits and faith in Him crucified and risen from the 
dead that we can have a reasonahlc hope of salvation. 

I believe the Holy Bible to be the inspired Word of God, 

and that while parts of it can not be understood l>y finite niau, 

that if we follow its teachings as we understand them and 

arc faithful unto the end we shall he saved, and then thai we 

will no longer "see through a glass darkly," hut that all 
things shall be revealed unto us. I believe "the Bible is the 

only chart hy which to navigate the sea of Life and reach the 
coast of Bliss securely," 



^flcAaA^d ( "■ ju VUZ4 



58 



\ Cl OUD OK \\ i rNKSSKS. 



BEN IONSON, 



English Dramatist and Poet Laureate (1374 i$37) 




ro nu: uoi.v TRINITY, 

i it 

TTaTERN \i Father, God, who didst create 
This all of nothing, gav*st it (brni and fate, 
Atul breath'st into it life and Light, with state 

to worship Thee ! 
Eternal God the Son, who not deniedst 
lo take om nature, hecanVst man. and diest, 
To pa\ our debts, upon the cross, atul cried*st 

All's done in M< 






Bternal Spirit. God, from both proceeding, 

Fathei and Son ; the Comforter, inbreeding 

Pure thoughts in man. with fiery teal them feeding 

acts of gi 
Increase those acts, glorious Trinity 
Of persons, still one God in Unitj 
Till 1 attain the loured for mystery 
Of seeing vour :.-. 



\ d.( nil < >i WITNESSES. 

Bi boldi tig on< in three, and three in one, 
A Trinity. t<> slnn. m I fnity : 
The gladdest light dark mat] can think upon — 
ob, granl il mi ' 

i-,itii< i .m.i Son and ii"i\ Ghost, you three, 

\11 roeternal in your majesty, 

Distinct in persons, yet in unity 
( >iu < rod, t<> see. 

My Maker, Saviour, and 013 Sanctifier, 

To hear, l<> meditate, sweeten my desire, 
With grace, with love, with cherishing entire! 

Oh, then, how blest 
Among Tin- saints elected to abide, 

\nd with Thy angels, placed sid< by side! 

But in Thy presence, truly glorified, 
Shall I there r< t 



SIR WILLIAM JONES. 

English Orientalist and Linguist, i 1746-1794.) 

C \X NOT help believing the divinity "l thi Messiah 

from the indisputable antiquity and manifest comple- 
tion of many prophecies (especially those of Isaiah) 
as the only Person recorded in history to whom they 
are applicable. — Page 408, Volume I 7, "British Plutarch" 

I have carefully and regularly perused the Holy Scrip- 
tures, and am of the opinion that that Volume, independently 
of its Divine origin, contains more sublimity, pure morality, 
more important history, both of poetry and eloquence, than 
could be collected within the same compass from all other 
books that were ever composed in any age or in any idiom. 
The two parts of which the Scriptures consist are con- 
nected by a chain of composition which bear no resem- 
blance in form or style to any that can be produced from 
the stores of Grecian, Indian, Persian, or even Arabian learn- 
ing.* The antiquity of these compositions no man doubts ; 

Sit William Jones was the master of thirteen languages, and was fa- 
miliar with twenty-eight others. 



26o 



A CEOUD OF WITNESSES. 



and the unrestrained application of them to events long sub- 
sequent to their publication is a solid ground of belief that 
they were genuine compositions, and consequently inspired. 
Lord Teignmouth* s Life of Sir William Jones. 



STEPHEN A. JONES, 

President of Nevada State University. 

AM a firm believer in the divinity of Christianity's 
Christ, and in the inspiration of Christianity's Bible. 
I believe that scarcely any one can read the Book 
without being benefited thereby. A student of five 
languages, and fairly conversant with their literatures, I 
know of nothing that equals certain chapters in lofty senti- 
ment, high ideals, beautiful imagery, and word-painting. I 
have derived the greatest pleasure and profit from Isaiah 
xxxv.; Habakkuk iii.; Psalms i., viii., xii., xix., xxiii., xlvii., 
and ciii.; Christ's Sermon on the Mount ; John xvii.; James 
iii., and Revelation xxi and xxii. 




DAVID STARR JORDAN, 

President of The Leland Stanford, Jr., University. 

'HE Bible was written by outdoor men ; if we would 
understand it, we must read it out of doors." They 
were shepherds and fishermen who wrote the Bible, 
men who night after night had been under the stars, 
and to whom the grass of the Judean hills had made the most 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 26l 

comfortable of pillows. Even kings and prophets were out- 
door men in the days of Samuel and David. Outdoor men 
speak of out-of-door things, and each man who speaks with 
authority must speak of things which he knows. 

No fact in the Bible stands out more clearly than that of 
the gradual growth of the law of love. " An eye for an eye, 
a tooth for a tooth," even this marked a great advance over 
the ethics of the Amorites and the children of Heth. Yet be- 
tween this and the Sermon on the Mount lies the whole dif- 
ference between barbarism and the highest civilization: " Ye 
have heard that it has been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor 
and hate thine enemy ; but I say unto you, love your ene- 
mies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate 
you." 

Have we not, in fact, in the character of Christ a culmina- 
tion of the potentialities of humanity ? May we not find in 
Him who said, in the presence of His tormentors, " Father 
forgive them for they know not what they do," at least one 
extreme of the series by which man had risen above the 
brute ? If Christ be the perfect man, He is perfect in this, 
that the potentialities of the race find its fulfillment in Him. 
Who was so wise, so loving, so self-devoted as He? Toward 
such a height we must be rising, else our development is but 
partial, degenerate, awry. Seen in contact with the perfect 
humanity, all else we know is but infantile. Our growth is 
finished, decay and death overtake us long before we begin 
to realize any appreciable nearness to the sublime ideal of 
the Christian faith. This fact we must recognize, whatever 
our creed or philosophy, that all progress toward the ideal 
manhood is in the direction of the Christly living. The law of 
progress, the law of growth : does not this law gain in force 
and impressiveness to us as we recognize it as the same law 
which works through all life ? It has worked in the lowest 
forms which have held the human potentiality, and through 
the slowly diverging series up to man, who has in him the 
germ of the Christ, the Son of the living God. 



^r^-c^L -8 ' fy 




262 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

THEODORE SIMON JOUFFROY, 

French Philosopher. ( 1796-1842.) 

OW this superiority of power is a new circumstance, 
which appears to give Christianity brighter and 
brighter promise of the conquest of the world. 
The Christian system is making progress, and 
rapid progress, while others are decaying; the nations which 
compose it are every day becoming more united, and grow- 
ing into a powerful aggregate, which nothing on earth is 
able to resist. It is impossible for the religion of Christ to 
be absorbed in either of the others; on the contrary, it is 
beginning to absorb them both, or, at least, to reduce the 
territory which they occupy; and there is every reason to 
believe that these conquests will soon go on with increasing 
rapidity. — See his Essay on " The Present State of Humanity" 



FRANCISCUS JUNIUS, 

English Philologist. (1589-1677.) 

^-TTY father, who was frequently reading the New Testa- 
u ^YJ[ ment, and had long observed with grief the progress 
CbxTJ) I made in infidelity, had put that Book in my way 
in his library with a view to attract my attention, if 
it might please God to bless his design, though without giv- 
ing me the least intimation of it. Here, therefore, I unwit- 
tingly opened the New Testament thus providentially laid 
before me. At the very first view, as I was deeply engaged 
in other thoughts, that grand chapter of the Evangelist and 
Apostle presented itself to me, "In the beginning was the 
Word." I read a part of the chapter, and was so affected 
that I instantly became struck with the divinity of the argu- 
ment, and the majesty and authority of the composition, as 
infinitely surpassing the highest flights of human eloquence. 
My body shuddered; my mind was in all amazement; and I 
was so agitated the whole day that I scarcely knew who I 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 263 

was. " Thou didst remember me, Lord my God, accord- 
ing to Thy boundless mercy, and didst bring back the lost 
sheep of Thy flock." From that day God wrought so 
mightily in me by the power of the Holy Spirit, that I be- 
gan to have relish for all other studies and pursuits, and 
bent myself with greater ardor and attention to everything 
which had a relation to God. — Page 224, "The Biblical Mu- 
seum" on the Gospel of John. 



IMMANUEL KANT,* 

German Metaphysician. (1724-1804.) 

N the life and the Divine doctrine of Christ which are 
recorded in the Gospel, example and precept conspire 
to call men to the regular discharge of every moral 
duty for its own sake, and to the universal practice of 
pure virtue. " He can't be wrong whose life is in the right." 
The Sermon on the Mount, in particular, comprises so pure 
a doctrine of religion, which Jesus obviously had the in- 
tention of introducing among the Jews, that we can not 
avoid considering it the Word of God. Beyond doubt, 
Christ is the Founder of the first true Church ; that is, that 
Church which, purified from the folly of superstition and 
the meanness of fanaticism, exhibits the moral kingdom of 
God upon the earth as far as can be done for man. — "An 
Inquiry into the Existence of God" by Irnmanuel Kant. 



The last words of Stephen A. Douglas to his children : 
" Tell them to support the Constitution and the Laws." This 
expression occurred in the last speech he ever delivered: "I 
can say before God my conscience is clear." 

* When Borowski placed too near each other the names of Christ and 
Kant, Kant quickly exclaimed: "The one name is holy; the other is that 
of a poor bungler doing his best to interpret Him." — An den Kirchenrath. 
Bowroski, Works, xi, 131. 



264 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

LESLIE E. KEELEY, 

Reformer; Physician; Discoverer of " Gold Cure " for 
Inebriety. 

HE following texts from the Book of books express 
my belief better than I can in words of my own : 

" All Scripture is given by inspiration." " Believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." 
" Cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve 
the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." 

"He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what 
doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love 
mercy and to walk humbly with thy God." 

" Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father 
is this : To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, 
and to keep himself unspotted from the world." 




(y^Ct^l^ £^/, 




WILLIAM DARRAH KELLEY, 

Congressman (1860-1890) — " Father of the House." 
(1814-1890.) 

N a moment of extreme depression, and to my great 
surprise, he said to me, " How difficult I am finding it 
to talk much ; but my dear, long-time friend, I want 
to tell you that I am a dead man; yes, to tell you, but 
please do not repeat it to others. Oh, if my life can only be 
spared to the holidays, how thankful to my God will I be. I 
so much desire that the shadow of death may not be upon 
the households of my dear children and grandchildren to 
mar their Christmas festivities and to darken in my family 
the brightness of that festive time." He knew that the end 





CHRIST IN THE HOME. 



A CERTAIN woman named Martha received Him into her house. And she had a 
sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word. But 
Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord, dost 
Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone ? bid her therefore that she 
help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art care- 
ful and troubled about many things, but Mary hath chosen that good part, which 
shall not be taken away from her. — Luke x, 38-42. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 265 

was coming, but he realized that there was One to whom he 
could look for ease and comfort in the passing hours of his 
trials on earth, and calling, time and again, upon the Lord 
Jesus Christ, his Divine Lord and Saviour, and repeating 
over and over again, by night and by day, the Lord's prayer, 
taught him by his Christian mother. — In Memorial Address 
of Congressman O 'Neill, published by the United States Con- 
gress, 1890. 

JAMES KENT, 

Lawyer; Author of "Commentaries." (1763-1847.) 

HRISTIANITY in its enlarged sense, as a religion 
revealed and taught in the Bible, is part and parcel 
of the law of the land. . . . Nor are we bound 
by any expression of the Constitution, as some have 
strangely supposed, either not to punish at all, or to punish 
indiscriminately like attacks upon the religion of Mahomet 
and the Grand Lama ; and for this plain reason, that we are 
a Christian people, and the morality of the country is deeply 
engrafted upon Christianity, and not upon the doctrines or 
worship of these impostors. — Page 290, u Johuson\s Reports" 
in case of People vs. Ruggles. 

The Bible is equally adapted to the wants and infirmities 
of every human being. ... It brings life and immortal- 
ity to light, which, until the publication of the Gospel, were 
hidden from the scrutiny of the ages. The gracious Revela- 
tion of a future state is calculated to solve the mysteries of 
Providence in the dispensations of this life, to reconcile us 
to the inequalities of our present condition, and to inspire 
unconquerable fortitude and the most animating consolations 
when all other consolations fail. . . . The Bible also un- 
folds the origin and deep foundations of depravity and guilt, 
and the means and hopes of salvation through the mediation 
of our Redeemer. Its doctrines, its discoveries, its code of 
morals, and its means of grace are not only overwhelming 
evidence of its Divine origin, but they confound the preten- 



266 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

tions of all othei systems by showing' the narrow range of 
ami the feeble efforts of human reason, even when cinder the 
sw.i\ of the most exalted understanding, and enlightened l>\ 
the accumulated treasures of science and learning. Extracts 
from an Address before the American Bible Society. 



JOHANN KEPLER, 

German Astronomer. (1571 1630.) 

THANK Thee, my Creator and Lord, that Thou hasi 
given me this joy in Tin creation, this delight in the 
works oi TI13 hands; I have shown the excellency oi 
Th\ works unto man, so far as my finite mind was 
able to comprehend Thine infinity ; if] have said aught of 
Tin glory, graciously forgive it. — Conclusion of his Treatise^ 
Ki //<n mony <>/ 1 1 oi /</s." 

0, Almighty God, [am thinking Thy thoughts after Thee 1 
Nothing holds me! 1 will indulge in my sacred fury, 1 will 
triumph over mankind by the proud confession that 1 have 
stolen the golden vases to build up a tabernacle for my God, 
tar awa\ from the confines of Egypt, It you forgive me, I 
rejoice; if you be angry, l ran hear it. The die is oast; the 
Book is written, to be read either now or by posterity, I care 
not which, it may be well to wait a century for a reader, as 
(\in\ has waited six thousand years for an observer. — Biog~ 
raphy\by Sir David Brewster, 

We astronomers say, with the common people, the planets 
stand still 01 go down; the sun rises or sets. How much 
less should we require than the Scriptures ^( Divine inspira- 
tion, setting aside the common mode of speech, should shape 
then words according to the model o\ the natural scientist, 
and, by employing a dark and inappropriate phraseology 
about things which surpass the comprehension of those whom 
it designs to instruct, perplex the people iA~ Cod, and thus 
obstruct its own way towards the attainment oi the far more 

exalted object at whieh it aims. Page 84, "Homage to the 

Book:' 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 267 

THOMAS KELLY, 

Publisher; Lord Mayor of London at the Accession of Queen Victoria. 

(1772-1855.) 

HAVE now quite done with the world, and with ev- 
erything it contains. I enjoy the companionship of 
the Holy Spirit, and my Redeemer is ever present 
with me. Sanctification and Redemption — what more 
can I desire ? All my misdeeds, whatever they have been 
through life, pardoned and done away. 

One of his evening prayers : " Most merciful and all-see- 
ing God, who art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, yet 
hast promised forgiveness to all who confess and forsake 
their sins, we come before Thee, in a humble sense of our 
unworthiness. Thou, O Lord, desirest not the death of the 
sinner ; mercifully look upon us, we beseech Thee, and for- 
give us all our transgressions ; make us deeply sensible of 
the great evil of sin, and work in us heartfelt contrition ; that 
we may obtain forgiveness at Thy hands, for the sake of Thy 
dear Son, Jesus Christ, our only Saviour and Redeemer." — 
Pages 16 and 13 of his Life, by fames Macatday y in Volume 
IV, " Short Biographies for the People." 



FRANCIS SCOTT KEY, 

Lawyer; Poet; Author of "Star-Spangled Banner." ( 1780-1843.) 



PRAISE FOR PARDONING GRACE. 

ORD. with glowing heart I'd praise Thee 
Cy/ For the bliss Thy love bestows ; 
£fsn For the pardoning grace that saves me, 
And the peace that from it flows. 
Help, O God. my weak endeavor. 
This dull soul to rapture raise ; 
Thou must light the flame, or never 
Can my love be warmed to praise. 



268 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

Praise, my soul, the God that sought thee, 

Wretched wanderer, far astray ; 
Found thee lost, and kindly brought thee 

From the paths of death away. 
Praise, with love's devoutest feeling, 

Him who saw thy guilt-born fear, 
And, the light of hope revealing, 

Bade the blood-stained Cross appear. 




JOHN KIDD, 

English Chemist, Educator, and Writer. (1775-1851.) 

ITH respect to the truth of Revelation, although 
the subject of this treatise is not directly con- 
nected with that question, the author would still 
wish to consider himself as addressing those only 
who with himself believe that the objects which surround us 
in our present state of existence, and which are obviously in- 
tended to advance the general powers and faculties of Man, 
without advancing the powers and faculties of any other 
animal, are purposely destined to produce an ulterior and 
higher effect ; the nature of which is to be learned from the 
doctrines of Revelation alone. And he has thought it right to 
say thus much on the general subject of religion, not merely 
for the purpose of recording his own sentiments, but that, in 
professing to address those only who believe in a revealed, as 
well as in a natural religion, if on any occasion he should 
assume the truth of Revelation he may not with justice be 
accused of taking that for granted of which the leader doubts. 
— Preface of the Bridgewater Treatise: "On tlie Adaptation of 
External Nature to the Physical Condition of Man" by Joint 
Kidd, Regius Professor of Medicine, University of Oxford. 



Zachary Taylor, in his last words, declared: "I am ready 
for the summons. I have endeavored to do my duty. I am 
sorry to leave my friends." 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 269 

THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD 
KINNAIRD,* 

Scottish Financier and Philanthropist. 

AS not God given us a Book ; has He not deigned to 
put into writing His thoughts ? . . . I think the pub- 
lic will read anything which is well got up, intelli- 
gently put together, and, above all, which contains the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ. You will find in even* book that it 
(the Tract Society) publishes, the simple Gospel, clearly and 
evangelically put, and in a way which can not but impress 
everyone with the feeling that he is being spoken to by one 
who knows what he is writing about ; one who has been 
saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let 
us seek, therefore, by means of the printing press, to bring 
men and women to the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. 





DANIEL KIRKWOOD. 

Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in Indiana 
University. 

AM asked to give my opinion of Christ and the Bible. 
As to the old question, •' What think ye of Christ? " 
let me say that His name is above every name. I 
regard Him as the Divine Saviour of man. I accept 
Him as my Saviour, and place all my hope of salvation in 
Him. I accept the Scriptures as a revelation of what man 
is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires 
of man. 



^2^^/M«»?^^l 



The above is a portion of his address before the Religious Tract So- 
ciety, Exeter Hall. London. May 9, 1S90. 



270 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



FR.IEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK, 

German Poet. (1724-1803.) 
THE RESURRECTION. 

RISE, 3*es, yes, arise, O thou my dust. 
From short repose thou must ; 
Immortal liveth, 
The soul the Maker giveth. 

Hallelujah ! 




Oh, then 'twill seem but like a dream so fair ; 
With Jesus we will share 
His holy pleasure ; 
Then will the pilgrim's measure 
Of grief be drained. 

Then will 1113- guide be to the holiest land 
My Mediator's hand. 
On high then living, 
I'll praise Him with thanksgiving. 
Hallelujah ! 




CHARLES KNIGHT, 

English Editor, Publisher, and Author. (1791-1873.) 

UT a vast European confederation, for obtaining the 
2J freedom of Christian worship in the land which our 
Oo Redeemer and His Apostles had trodden, was an idea 
that seized upon the minds of men in all countries 
and of all classes with a force which those can not com- 
prehend who measure the character of a past age by the 
principles and feelings of their own age. 

He (Wickliffe) had accomplished a work which no ecclesi- 
astical censure could set aside. He had translated the 
Scriptures into the English language. Whenever he and 
his disciples were assailed by the higher ecclesiastics, he had 
appealed to the Bible. His translation of the Bible was now 
multiplied by the incessant labor of transcribers. The texts 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 2/1 

of the Bible were in every mouth as they were re-echoed in 
the sermons of preachers in churches and in open places. 
The poor treasured up the words of comfort fur all earthly 
afflictions. The rich and the great meditated upon the in- 
spired sentences which so clearly pointed out a more certain 
road to salvation than could be found through indulgences 
and pilgrimages. — Pages 62 ) and 131, "Pictures front English 
History by the great Historical Artists" selected and edited by 
Coleman E. Bishop. 



PAUL LACROIX, 

(BIBLIOPHILE JACOB,) 

French Writer. (1806-1884.) 



N the beginning of the Middle Ages the barbarians 
<l£L made an inroad upon the old world; their renewed in- 
, Qj vasions crushed out, in the course of a few years, the 
Greek and Roman civilization ; and everywhere dark- 
ness succeeded light. The religion of Jesus Christ was 
alone capable of resisting this barbarian invasion, and 
science and literature, together with the arts, disappeared 
from the face of the earth, taking refuge in the churches. It 
was there that they were preserved as a sacred deposit, and 
it was thence that they emerged when Christianity had ren- 
ovated pagan society. — Pre/ace of " Science and Literature in 
the Middle Ages" by Paid Lacroix. 



CHARLES LAMB, 

English Essayist and Poet. ('1775-1834.) 
FROM "A VISION OF REPENTANXE." 




^^^EVERE and saintly righteousness 

Composed the clear white bridal dress ; 
Ay%. JESUS, the Son of Heaven's high King, 
Bought with His blood the marriage-ring. 



272 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

FROM "THE GRANDAME." 

Better 't were to tell 
How with a nobler zeal and warmer love 
She served her heavenly Master. I have seen 
That reverenced form bent down with age and pain 
And rankling malady. Yet not for this 
Ceased she to praise her Maker, or withdrew 
Her trust in Him, her faith, and humble hope — 
So meekly had she learn'd to bear her cross — 
For she had studied patience in the school 
Of Christ ; much comfort she had thence derived, 
And was a follower of the NAZARENE. 

TO MY MOTHER. 

A heavy lot hath he, most wretched man, 

Who lives the last of all his family ; 

He looks around him, and his eye discerns 

The face of the stranger, and his heart is sick. 

Man of the world, what can'st thou do for him? 

Wealth is a burden which he could not bear ; 

Mirth a strange crime, the which he dare not act ; 

And generous wines no cordial to the soul ; 

For wounds like his, Christ is the only cure. • 

Go, preach thou to him of a world to come, 

Where friends shall meet and know each other's face 

Say less than this, and say it to the winds. 



MELVILLE D. LAN DON, 

Humorist, " Eli Perkins." 

HRIST is a necessity. The highest civilization of the 
learned Stoics was a failure. Seneca, Epictetus and 
Aurelius were the culmination of the highest moral- 
ity and religion without the love of Christ. Religion 
was only Justice — " an eye for an eye and a tooth for a 
tooth" till Jesus Christ came with "do unto others." Sto- 
ical philosophy was only addressed to the intellect, wmile 
Christ brought peace and love and salvation to the heart 
through His atonement. Seneca was pure and Aristides was 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 273 

just but they knew not love and Divine forgiveness. Chris- 
tianity with its divine Book has brought these, and they are a 
necessity. . 




CHARLES LAN MAN, 

Author. 



HO, then, can for an instant doubt that he (Daniel 
Webster) is now in Heaven ? As surely as there 
is an All-Merciful Saviour, he must be among 
the redeemed. . . . He was a believer in the great 
Atonement, and the distinct impression left upon my mind 
was, that if he were not a genuine Christian the promises 
of the Bible were all a fable ; and God knows that I would 
rather die than, for a moment, even imagine such a state of 
things. — From Chapter o?i Illness and Death, in "Private Life 
of Daniel Webster" by Charles Lanman, Private Secretary of 
Daniel Webster. 

DIONYSIUS LARDNER, 

British Astronomer. (1793-1859.) 

N the year of Rome 753, while the world was enjoying 
peace under Augustus, and the "fullness of time " was 
come, it pleased the Almighty to send His Son, Jesus 
Christ, as the announcer of a religion more pure and 
holy than any yet given to man. His religion though per- 
secuted, gradually spread over the Roman world. The 
Christian religion, as given to man by its divine Author, was 
perfect in truth and simplicity ; but it was sent forth into the 
w T orld in which error abounded, and the stream had hardly 
left the fountain when it became defiled with mundane im- 
purities. — Extract from his " Outlines of History ." 



2/4 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

WALTER SAVAGE LAN DOR, 

English Author. (1775-1864.) 

T would grieve me to 
foresee the day when 
our cathedrals and 
churches shall be de- 
molished or desecrated; 
when the tones of the organ, 
when the symphonies of 
Handel no longer swell and 
reverberate along the groin- 
ed roof and dim windows. 
But let old superstitious 
crumble into dust ; let Faith, 
Hope, and Charity be simple 
in their attire ; but few and solemn words be spoken before 
Him u to whom all hearts are open, all desires are known.' 1 
Principalities and powers belong to the service of the Cruci- 
fied ; and religion can never " be of good report " among 
those who usurp or covet them. — Atlantic Monthly, June, 
1866. 




GEORGE PARSONS LATHROP, 



Author, Journalist, Poet. 



THE CHRISTMAS FOREST. 

(The region between Jerusalem and Bethlehem was formerly covered 
with a forest of pines, which has since entirely disappeared.) 



HE forest in a whisper spoke, 
Vine to flower, and pine to oak ; 
From holy-hill'd Jerusalem 
To where upon its leafy hem 

The humble village clung — 
Calm Bethlehem, dark, yet, like a gem. 
Enwrapped with light, as jewels are, 
By trembling radiance of the star. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 275 

The angels sang ; the shepherds came ; 
In the lone manger shone a flame 
That burned with supernatural light. 
The pine trees whispered through the night. 

And though our Saviour's birth 
Changed not their shadowy gloom to white, 
They in a patient darkness still 
Bowed, sighing, and obeyed His will. 

Vanished is that old forest now, 
And withered wholly, root and bough ; 
Yet in all Christian realms of earth 
Springs a new forest, full of mirth 
That lights with radiant cheer 
The evergreen's enduring worth, 
And to that whispering prophet brings 
A glory of the King of kings. 




ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 

Merchant and Diplomat. (1792-1855.) 

,HE Hon. Abbott Lawrence, at that time Minister of 
the United States at the Court of St. James, in the 
delivery of an eloquent address, declared that "Eng- 
land and America, the two greatest Protestant na- 
tions, banded together, might defy the world." Pausing for 
a moment, the speaker continued, "I must withdraw that 
word ' defy.' There is no occasion for defiance. Let us 
rather as Christian nations, united in our love for the Bible, 
go forth to bless and save the world." — Monthly 'Reporter of 
the British and Foreign Bible Society, June, 1886. 



AMOS LAWRENCE. 

Merchant and Philanthropist. (1786-1852.) 

^pTTENDED . . . Church this morning, and took 
part in the closing prayer, the giving thanks to our 
Father in heaven, through Jesus Christ, who lived 
to serve us, and died to save us. 
What should we do if the Bible were not the foundation of 




276 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

our system of self-government ? and what will become of us 
when we willfully and wickedly neglect it? We have more 
than common reason to pray in the depths of our sins, God 
he merciful to us sinners. The efforts made to lessen re- 
spect for it, and confidence in it, will bring to its rescue 
multitudes who would not have learned otherwise how much 
they owe it. . . . The Bible is our great charter, and 
does more than all others written or unwritten. — Biography 
of Amos Lawrence, by William R. Lawrence. 



LORD JOHN MAIR LAWRENCE, 

Viceroy of India. (1811-1879.) 

^T seems to me that year after year, and cycle after 
cycle, the influence of these missionaries must in- 
crease, and that in God's good will large masses of the 
people, having lost all faith in their own, and feeling 
the want of a religion which is pure, true, and holy, will be 
converted, and will confess the religion of Christ, and, having 
professed it, live in accordance with its Divine, precepts. — 
See Sketch of his Life by E. Paxton Hood, Volume II, "Short 
Biographies for the People" 




SIR AUSTIN HENRY LAYARD, 

G \--2 English Orientalist, Archaeologist, and Diplomat. 

/^7U^RCH^OIvOGY, if pursued in a liberal spirit, be- 
\jfo\i comes of the utmost importance as illustrating the 
H (c^ 3 history of mankind. I confess that, sanguine as I 
was to the results of my researches among the ruins 
of the Tigris and the Euphrates, I could not, indeed, proba- 
bly could any human being, have anticipated the results 
which they produced. I do not say this in self-praise. I 
consider myself but an humble agent, whose good fortune 
it has been to labor successfullv about those results. I could 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 277 

not doubt that every spadeful of earth which was removed 
from those vast remains would tend to confirm the truth of 
Prophecy and to illustrate the meaning of Scripture. But 
w T ho could have believed that record themselves should have 
been found which, as to the minuteness of their detail, and 
the wonderful accuracy of their statements, should confirm 
almost w T ord for word the very text of Scripture? And re- 
member, that these were no fabrications of a later date in 
monuments centuries after the deeds which they professed 
to relate had taken place, but records engraved by those who 
had actually taken part in them. — From his Speech on the 
occasion of the presentation to Doctor Layard the freedom of 
the city of London, February 9, 1854. 



WILLIAM EDWARD HARTPOLE LECKY, 

British Historian and Author. 

T was reserved for Christianity to present to the world 
an ideal Character, which, through all the changes of 
the eighteen centuries, has inspired the hearts of men 
with impassioned love, and has shown itself capable 
of acting on all ages, nations, temperaments, and conditions; 
has not only been the highest pattern of virtue, but the 
highest incentive to its practice, and has exerted so deep an 
influence that it may be truly said that the simple record of 
three short years of active life has done more to regenerate 
and soften mankind than all the disquisitions of philoso- 
phers and all the exhortations of moralists. This has, in- 
deed, been the well-spring of whatever is best and purest in 
the Christian life. Amid all the sins and failings; amid all 
the priestcraft and fanaticism that have defaced the Church, 
it has preserved in the character of its Founder an enduring 
principle of regeneration. . . . The power of the love 
of Christ has been displayed alike in the most heroic pages 
of Christian martyrdom, in the most pathetic pages of Chris- 
tian resignation, and in the tenderest pages of Christian 



27& A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

charity. It was shown by the martyrs who sank beneath 
the fangs of wild beasts, extending to the last moments their 
arms in the form of the cross they loved ; who ordered their 
chains buried as the insignia of their warfare ; who looked 
with joy upon their ghastly wounds because they have been 
received for Christ ; who welcomed death as the bridegroom 
welcomes the bride, because it would bring them nearer Him. 
—''History of Morality," Volume II, page 88. 




JOSEPH LECONTE, 

Geologist and Author; Professor of Geology and Natural History in the 
University of California. 

<HE Christ is the ideal man, and, therefore — mark the 
necessary implication — and, therefore, the Divine man. 
We are all men (as contradistinguished from brutes) — 
we are all, I say, sons of God ; the Christ is the well- 
beloved Son. We are all in the image of God ; He is the ex- 
press and perfect image. We are all partakers in various 
degrees of the Divine nature ; in Him the Divine nature is 
completely realized. It is not necessary that the ideal man 
— the Christ — should be perfect in knowledge and power; 
on the contrary, He must grow in wisdom and stature, like 
other men ; but he must be perfect in character. Character 
is essential spirit. All else, even knowledge, is only environ- 
ment for its culture. In the dazzling light of modern science 
we are apt to forget this. Character is the attitude of the 
human spirit toward the Divine Spirit. If I should add any- 
thing to this definition, I would say it is spiritual attitude and 
spiritual energy. In the Christ this attitude must be wholly 
right ; the harmony — the union with the Divine — must be 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



2/9 




ROBERT EDWARD LEE,* 

Confederate General-in-Chief; President of Washington and Lee Uni- 
versity. (1807-1870.) 



doctor, if I could 

only know that all 

the young men in 

this College were 
good Christians I should 
have nothing more to desire. 
I wish, sir, to thank you 
for your address. It was 
just what we needed. Our 
great want is a revival 
which shall bring these 
young men to Christ. 

I should be disappointed, 
sir, and shall fail in the leading object that brought me here, 
unless these young men all become Christians ; and I wish 
you and others of your sacred profession to do all you can to 
accomplish it. — Pages 492-494, "A Life of General Lee" by 
John Esten Cooke. 




RICHARD HENRY LEE, 

Orator, Statesman, and Patriot. (1732-1794.) 

COMMITTEE of three consisting of Richard Henry 
Lee, Samuel Adams, and General Daniel Rober- 
deau, reported in the Congress of the Revolution, 
November 1, 1777, this resolution, recommending 
the setting apart of u Thursday, the 18th of December next, 
for solemn thanksgiving and praise, that with one heart and 
one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings 

* After his death a well-worn Bible was found in his chamber, in which 
was written " R. E. Lee, Lieut. Colonel, U. S. Arm}-. 




28(3 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of 
their Divine Benefactor ; and that, together with their sin- 
cere acknowledgments and offerings, they may join the pen- 
itent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had for- 
feited every favor, and their humble and earnest supplication 
that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, 
mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance. " — 
Journal of Congress, Volume III, pages 467 and 468. 




GOTTFRIED WILLIAM LEIBNITZ, 

German Philosopher and Mathematician. (1646-1716.) 

HE true and essential union which unites us to the 
body of Christ consists in love. 

I hold to the Augsburg Confession, which supposes 
a real presence of the body of Christ and beholds in 
the sacrament something mysterious. 

I often think that Bzekiel had studied the art of archi- 
tecture, or was court engineer, because he saw in his vision 
such magnificent edifices. But a prophet in the country like 
Amos, beholds only landscapes or rural pictures, while the 
statesman Daniel gives rules in his visions to the mon- 
archs of the world. This woman whom your Highness 
has seen, may not be compared with prophets like these; 
however, she sees Jesus Christ before her eyes. The burn- 
ing love which, fanned by the hearing of sermons, and 
by private reading, she bears to our Saviour, has at length 
obtained for her the gracious gift of beholding His image or 
appearance. For why should I not call it a gift of grace. 
It does her good, it renders her happy, it makes her the subject 
of most beautiful sentiments. — Pages 163 and 166, "Life of 
Godfried William Leibnitz, on the Basis of the German Work 
by Dr. G. E. Gurhrauer" by John Mac key. 



Last words of Beethoven, who was deaf: " I shall hear in 
Heaven." 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 28l 

FRANCOIS LENORMANT. 

French Archaeologist. (1835-1883.) 

.ROFOUNDLY convinced of the truth of all that my 
J JJ\ religion teaches, I respect the Holy Scriptures. I 
9 s^ bow to their authority, and I believe in the Divine 
inspiration which dictated them. But many things 
which do not belong to them are attributed by commentators 
to the Scriptures, and chronology is one of them. . . . One 
of the most learned men of the present century, and at the 
same time a sincere Christian, Baron de Sacy, used to say: 
"People perplex their minds about Biblical chronology and 
the discrepancy between it and the discoveries of modern 
science. They are greatly in error, for there is no Biblical 
chronology." For chronology can only exist when the neces- 
sary elements occur; when we are in possession of records 
which control the accuracy of figures transmitted by the 
chroniclers, and, above all, when we know the measure of 
time in use among the people whose annals we seek to 
reconstruct. It is no use, therefore, to seek in Scripture that 
which they can not contain — a fixed and certain chronology. 
—"LEgypte, '61." 



GOTTHOLD EPHRAIM LESSING. 

German Author. (1729-1781.) 

HIS much, at least, is a matter of experience: that the 
books of the New Testament, in which these doc- 
trines after some time found a repository, have fur- 
nished, and still furnish, the second better elementary 
Book for the human race. For seventeen hundred years they 
occupied the human mind more than all other books. No 
other Book could possibly have become so generally known 
among different nations. 

And so Christ was the first reliable Teacher of the immor- 




282 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

tality of the soul; reliable, on account of the prophecies 
which were fulfilled in Him; on account of the miracles 
which He performed; reliable, on account of His own resur- 
rection from the dead, with which He sealed His own doc- 
trines. The first reliable Teacher: For to suppose, to wish, 
to believe, is one thing; to conform one's inward and out- 
ward life is another thing. And this, at least, was first taught 
by Christ. ... It was reserved for Him alone to enforce 
purity of heart in reference to another life. — Pages 54, 51, 
and 49, "The Education of the Race" by G. E. Lessing. 



<# 



JOSHUA LEVERING, 

Financier and Manufacturer. 

ESUS CHRIST, by reason of His exalted character 
\^ and blameless life, is and ever will remain the central 
To figure in human history. His life, if nothing else, 
justifies humanity in recognizing His divine nature, 
and warrants the acceptance of Him as the Saviour of the 
world. 

But in addition thereto we have the Bible testifying to the 
same great truth. Christ is thus the fulfillment of the Scrip- 
ture, and the Scriptures themselves are proven to be the in- 
spired Word of God by the life and death of Christ. Jesus 
Christ and the Book are, therefore, one and inseparable, and 
must stand or fall together. 





C^7 ' ^^^o^^^(M^J^a^7 



The last syllables Daniel Webster listened to were the 
words of the Psalmist, and repeated at his request: "Though 
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will 
fear no evil, for Thou art with me ; Thy rod and Thy staff 
they comfort me." 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 283 

TAYLER LEWIS, 

Author, and Professor of Greek in Union College 
(1849-1877). (1802-1877.) 

\>7\<aNOTHER striking trait of the Mosaic cosmogony is 
^ its unbroken wholeness of unity. . . . "In the be- 
Cj (q)o ginning God made the heavens and the earth, and 
the earth was waste and void, and darkness was 
upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God brooded 
over the waters. And God said, let there be light, and there 
was light. And God saw that it was good, and God divided 
the light from the darkness. And thus there was an evening 
and a morning — one day." What is there like it, or to be 
at all compared with it, in any mythology on earth ? There 
it stands, high above them all, and remote over them all, in 
its air of great antiquity, in its unaccountableness, in its se- 
rene truthfulness, in its unapproachable sublimity, in that 
impress of Divine majesty and ineffable holiness which even 
the unbelieving neologist has been compelled to acknowledge, 
and by which every devout reader feels that the first page of 
Genesis is forever distinguished from any mere human pro- 
duction. — "The Six Days of Creation" by Tayler Lewis. 



FRANCIS LIEBER. 

Publicist ; Professor of Political Science in Columbia College Law School 
(1860-1872). (1800-1872.) 

HESE earlier notions were preserved pure, and gradu- 
ally enlarged during the Mosaic period by succes- 
sive revelations to chosen individuals, with whom the 
Bible makes us acquainted under the name of Proph- 
ets, from Moses to Malachi. God finally completed His 
revelations through Christ. — Page 2, u Encyclopcedia Ameri- 
cana" Volume XI, edited by Francis Lieber. 

Christianity, considered purely as a branch of knowledge, 
constitutes an indispensable element of liberal education, 
because Christianity, taken solely as a historical fact, is in- 




284 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

comparably the mightiest of all facts in the annals of human 
society. It has so tinctured and penetrated all systems of 
knowledge, both civil and exclusively social, the laws, lan- 
guages, and literature of the civilized world ; their ethics, 
rights, tastes, and wants, that without a historical and philo- 
sophical acquaintance with Christianity it is impossible to 
understand any of them. There is not the historian in ex- 
istence, whatever view of religion itself he may take, who 
denies that Christianity is the foundation of the whole of 
modern history, that is, the history since the downfall of the 
Western Empires. . . . The Christian religion is inter- 
woven with the institutions which surround us and in which 
we have our social being. The Christian religion has found 
its way into a thousand laws, and has generated a thousand 
others. — Pages 525, 526, 529, Volume ff } of " Contribution 
to Political Science" by Fronds Licbcr. 



CARL LINNEAUS, 

Swedish Botanist. { 1707-1778.) 

^N all his writings there appeared a deep feeling of rev- 
erence and gratitude towards the Supreme Being; and 
in the history of his life we find nothing which conld 
lead us to suppose that such feelings were assumed 
for the occasion. Over the door of his room were inscribed: 
"hniocui z'ii'itc, Numen adest — Live in innocence, for God is 
present.' ' His more important works he commences and 
ends with some passage of Scripture, expressive of the pow- 
er, the glory, the beneficence of God, the Creator, the Pre- 
server of all things. — "Lives of Eminent Zoologists" by //". 
MacgUlvrey. 

My sufferings, though gxeat, are nothing in comparison 
with those of my dying Saviour, through whose death I look 
for everlasting happiness. — Last words of Andrew fackson. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN,* 

Sixteenth President of the United States. (1809-1865.) 



285 




T is said in one of 
the admonitions of 
*Qj our Lord, "As your 
Father in Ih 
is perfect, be ye also per- 
fect." The Saviour, I 
suppose, did not expect 
that any human being 
could be perfect as the 
Father in Heaven; but 
He said, "As your Father 
in Heaven is perfect, be 
ye also perfect." He set 
that up as a standard, and 
He who did most toward 
reaching that standard 
attained the highest de- 
gree of moral perfection. 
— From a speech in Chicago, fitly 10, 1858. See "The Lin- 
coln Memorial Album of Immortelles" collected and edited 
by O shorn H. Oldroyd. 

In regard to this great Book, I have only to say that it is 
the best gift God ever gave to man. All the good from the 
Saviour of the world is communicated through this Book. 
But for this Book we could not know right from wrong. All 
those things desirable for man are contained in it. — In Ac- 
knowledgment of an elegant Bible, presented by a Committee 
of Colored J J eople from Baltimore. See Washington Chron- 
icle, September 5, 1864., giving a f M ^ report of the Address. 

* Throughout the whole period of the war he (Mr. Lincoln) constantly 

directed the attention of the nation to dependence on Ood. It may, in- 
deed, be doubted whether he omitted this in a single state paper. — Page 
549, Volume /, " Twenty Years of Congress''' by James G. Blaine. 



286 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

from which this extract is taken; also, "McPherson^s His- 
tory of the RebeVion" and u Carpenters Six Months in the 
White House." 

The character of the Bible is easily established, at least to 
my satisfaction. We have to believe many things which we 
do not comprehend. The Bible is the only history that 
claims to be God's Book — to comprise His laws, His history. 
It contains an immense amount of evidence as to its authen- 
ticity. . . . Now let us treat the Bible fairly. If we 
had a witness on the stand whose general story was true, we 
would believe him even when he asserted the facts of which 
we have no other evidence. We ought to treat the Bible 
with equal fairness. I decided long ago that it was less 
difficult to believe that the Bible was what it claimed to be 
than to disbelieve it. — Pages 450, 451, u Recollections of Pres- 
ident Lincoln, and his Administration" by L. E. Chittenden, 
his Register of the Treasury. 




FRANZ LISZT, 

Hungarian Pianist and Composer. ( 1811-1886.) 

N spite of all my errors and entanglements for which I 
felt the deepest contrition, the Divine Light of the 
Cross was not withdrawn from me. 
A maiden chaste and pure as the alabaster of ho- 
ly vessels was the sacrifice which I tearfully offered to the 
God of the Christians. Renunciation of all things earthly 
was the leaven, the only word of that day. 

Come back to the faith: it gives such happiness; it is the 
only, the true, the eternal. However bitterly you may scorn 
the feeling, I can not help recognizing in it the way of sal- 
vation. I can not help yearning for it, and choosing it. — To 
a Friend. — See Chapter on Franz Liszt, " A Score of Famous 
Composers," by Nathan Haskell Dole. 



^ 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 287 

DAVID LIVINGSTONE,* 

Scottish Physician and Explorer in Africa. (1813-1873.) 




^ 



REAT pains had been taken by my parents to instil 
the doctrines of Christianity into my mind, and I had 
no difficulty in understanding the theory of free sal- 
vation by the atonement of our Savior ; but it was 
only about this time that I really began to feel the necessity 
and value of a personal application of the provisions of the 
atonement to my own case. The change was like that of 
" colorblindness." The perfect fullness with which the par- 
don of all our guilt is offered in God's Book drew forth feel- 
ings of affectionate love to Him who bought us with His 
blood, and a sense of deep obligation to Him for His mercy 
has influenced, in some small measure, my conduct ever 
since. This book will speak, not so much of what has been 
done, as of what remains to be performed before the Gospel 
can be said to be preached to all nations. In the glow of 
love which Christianity inspires I soon resolved to devote my 
life to the alleviation of human misery. — Page 4, "Missionary 
Travels a7id Researches in South Africa" by David Living- 
stone. 

WILLIAM LIVINGSTON. 

Lawyer; First Governor of New Jersey. (1776-1790.) 
(1723-1790.) 

F the history (New Testament) be not true, then all 
the whole laws of nature were changed ; all the motives 
and incentives to human actions that ever had obtained 
in this world have been entirely inverted ; the wicked- 

:; " Here is a man who is manifestly sustained as well as guided by in- 
fluences from heaven. The Holy Spirit dwells in him. God speaks 
through him. The heroism, the nobility, the pure and stainless enthusi- 
asm at the root of his life come, beyond question, from Christ. There 
must, therefore, be a Christ; — and it is worth while to have such a Helper 
and Redeemer as this Christ undoubtedly is, and as He here reveals Him- 
self to this wonderful disciple. — Henry M. Stanley. 



288 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

est men in the world have taken the greatest pains and en- 
dured the greatest hardship and misery to invent, practice, 
and propagate the most holy religion that ever was. — See 
Livingstones Familiar Letters to a Gentleman, upon a variety 
of seasonable and important Subjects in Religion. 

I believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, 
without any foreign comments or human explanations. . 
I believe that he who feareth God and worketh righteousness 
will be accepted of Him. . . . I believe that the virulence 
of some . . . proceeds not from their affection to Chris- 
tianity, which is founded on too firm a basis to be shaken by 
the freest inquiry, and the Divine authority of which I sin- 
cerely believe without receiving a farthing for saying so. — 
No. 46, " The Independent Reflector" as reprinted by Theo- 
dore Sedgwick, Jr., in " Life and Letters of William Livings- 
ton:' 

This resolution, presented by Mr. Livingston, March 16, 
1776, was passed without dissent by Congress : " We earnestly 
recommend that Friday, the 17th day of May next, be ob- 
served by the colonies as a day of humiliation, fasting, and 
prayer, that we may with united hearts confess and bewail 
our manifold sins and transgressions, and by a sincere re- 
pentance and amendment of life appease God's righteous dis- 
pleasure, and through the merits and mediation of Jesus 
Christ obtain His pardon and forgiveness." — Journal of Con- 
gress, Volume II, page 93. 



JAMES LOGAN, 

Private Secretary of William Penn, and Chief-Justice of the Supreme 
Court of Pennsylvania. (1674-1751) 

■EMEMBER thou art by profession a Christian; 
]?12 that is, one who art called after the immaculate 
Eamb of God, who, by offering Himself a sacrifice 
for thee, atoned for thy sins. . . . Rouse with the 
more simple servants of nature, and borrowing one hour from 
the sleep of sluggards, spend it in thy chamber in dressing 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



289 



thy soul with prayer and meditation, reading the Scriptures. 
. . . Remember that the same enemy that caused thy first 
parents to forfeit their blessed condition, notwithstanding 
the gate is now open for restoration, is perpetually using his 
whole endeavors to prevent thee from attaining this, and 
frustrate to thee the passion of thy Redeemer. — "Memoirs of 
James Logan" by Wilson Armstead. 





JOHN LOCKE, 

English Philosopher. (1632-1704.) 

B that shall collect all the 
moral rules of the philos- 
ophers and compare them 
with those contained in the 
New Testament will find them to 
come short ol the morality deliv- 
ered by our Saviour and taught by 
His disciples: a college made up 
of ignorant but inspired fisher- 
men. . . . Such a law of morality 
Jesus Christ has given in the New 

Testament, but by the latter of these ways, by revelation, we 
have from Him a full and sufficient rule for our direction, 
and conformable to that of reason. But the worth and obli- 
gation of its precepts have their force, and are past doubt to 
us, by the evidence of His mission. He was sent by God: 
His miracles show it; and the authority of God in His pre- 
cepts can not be questioned. His morality has a sure stand- 
ard, that revelation vouches, and reason can not gainsay nor 
question ; but both together witness to come from God, the 
great Lawgiver. And such a one as this, out of the New 
Testament, I think, they would never find, nor can anyone 
say is anywhere else to be found. . . . To one who is per- 
suaded that Jesus Christ was sent by God to be a King and 
a Saviour to those who believe in Him, all His commands 



290 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

become principles ; there needs no other proof for the truth 
of what He says, but that He said it ; and then there needs 
no more but to read the inspired books to be instructed. — 
From u The Reasonableness of Christianity" by John Locke. 



1 



JOHN ALEXANDER LOGAN,* 

Major-General; United States Senator. (1826-1886.) 

5)UT the beautiful ceremonies of love and remembrance, 
now so universally performed with flowers, came to 
^A)o the fullest expansion through the growth of the 
Christian religion. Branches of palms were thrown 
in the path of our Saviour as He entered Jerusalem. The 
crucified Christ received a crown of thorns from His execu- 
tioners, but flowers strewn by unseen hands exhaled their 
fragrance around the cave where His body was laid. — From 
his Oration at Riverside Park, New York, Decoration Day, 
1886. 

JOHN DAVIS LONG. 

Late Governor of Massachusetts. 

HAT has Jesus Christ done for humanity?" I 
should say that He has done more than any 
other religious teacher. The seed he sowed fell, 
indeed, into good ground, and His system has 
been adopted by the most enterprising and progressive 
nations of the world. But the vast growth of what we call 
Christian civilization is indebted, not alone to the soil from 

* Bluff, sturdv, honest Logan was a Christian in faith and practice. Here 
is his Bible, which he read with daily care. Sincere and humble, he ac- 
cepted Christ as his personal Saviour. When given the Lord's Supper, too 
humble in spirit to kneel on the cushion around the altar, he knelt on the 
carpet, and with his precious wife received the tokens of a Saviour's 
love. — From "Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of John A, 
Logan" delivered in the Senate and House of Representatives, February 
9 and 16, 1887. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 291 

which it sprang, but also to Him who planted it. His life, 
His example, and His teachings not only are still the very 
idea of personal and social excellence, character, and devel- 
opment, but no forecast of the future outgrowth oi the human 
soul suggests anything farther reaching or better. He has 
set the highest example of a life of moral, intellectual, and 
physical energy, exquisite and broad in its sympathies, com- 
plete in its usefulness and self-sacrifice, and ranging in its 
beneficence from the loftiest heights of moral and relig- 
ious philosophy to the tenderest chords that tremble in the 
bruised heart of a little child. And He has transmitted a 
body of moral and religious teaching which at once meets 
the aspiration and hunger of the soul, and stimulates every 
nerve of endeavor forward and upward; at once puts human- 
ity into the relation of worshipful, and, at the same time, in- 
telligent and affectionate consecration to God, its Father, 
and into sympathy and helpful cooperation with its fellow 
men. Hence the Christian Church; hence the teeming civ- 
ilization of charity and progress. To attempt to describe 
either would be to write volumes, and yet fail to exhaust the 
theme. So would it be to attempt to describe what Christ 
has done for humanity. — Christian Register, Boston, Decem- 
ber 22, 1887. 

JAMES LONGSTREET, 

Confederate Major General and Diplomat. 

EPLYING to your request, I am pleased to say: I 
} believe in God, the Father, and in His only be- 
gotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. It is my cus- 
tom to read one or more chapters of my Bible daily 
for comfort, guidance, and instruction. Knowing myself a 
sinner, I am greatly relieved by the happy assurance that for 
such our Saviour died, and that under lowly penitence He 
will surely forgive, and make our acceptance certain through 
His holy pleasure. 








292 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, 

Poet ; Twenty Years Professor of Belles-Lettres in Harvard College. 

(1807-1882.) 




HIS BROTHER'S ORDINATION HYMN. 

Christ to the 3'oung man said : 
" Yet one thing more : 

If thou wouldst perfect be, 
Sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor, 

And come and follow me ! " 

Within this temple Christ again, unseen, 
Those sacred words hath said, 

And His invisible hands to-day have been 
Laid upon a 3-oung man's head. 

And evermore beside him on his way 
The unseen Christ shall move, 

That he may lean upon His arm and sa} r , 
" Dost Thou, dear Lord, approve ? " 

Beside him at the marriage feast shall be 
To make the scene more fair : 

Beside him in the dark Gethsemane 
Of pain and midnight pra3'er. 

O holy trust ! O endless sense of rest ! 

Like the beloved John 
To lay his head upon our Saviour's breast, 

And thus to journe}' on. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



293 




CHARLES LOUIS LOOS, 

President of Kentucky University. 

■HE BIBLE, embracing the Old Testament and the 
New, is to me "the Holy Scriptures," "the Oracles 
of God," divinely inspired; the only law of faith, con- 
duct, and life, "able to make men wise unto salvation 
through faith in Christ Jesus." 

Jesus, the Christ, has always been to me, in my deepest 
convictions and affections, the Son of God — " God manifest 
in the flesh," the brightest "effulgence of the Father's glory, 
and the perfect expression of His essential being." His 
Deity (I prefer this term to the less definite word divinity), 
eternal, is clearly taught, beyond all reasonable controversy, 
in the New Testament. He is the Lamb of God, who, by 
His atoning sacrifice on the cross, " takes away the sin of 
the world." He is, as is said of Jehovah in the Old Testa- 
ment, " the First and the Last, the King of kings, and Lord 
of Lords," "the Hope of Glory." 




LOUIS IX., 

( Virf King of France. (1215-1270.) 

cA V7T Y Dear Daughter: I conjure you to love our Lord 
f ' with all your might; for this is the foundation of all 
goodness. No one is so worthy to be loved. Well 
may we say : " Lord, Thou art our God, and our goods 
are nothing to Thee." It was the Lord who sent His Son 
upon the earth, and delivered Him over to death for our Sal- 
vation. If you love Him, my daughter, the advantage will 



294 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

be yours; and be assured that you can never love and serve 
Him too much. He has well deserved that you love Him; 
for He first loved us. I wish you would comprehend what 
the Son of God had done for our redemption. Bestow all 
your care to avoid everything that may displease Him. — 
Page 49, "Power of 'Religion" by Lindley Murray. 



3t 




SETH LOW, 

President of Columbia College. 



TRONG pictures had been drawn of the forces arrayed 
against Christianity. If these tended to stimulate 
the hearers, well and good; if they tended to discour- 
age, let the faint-hearted look for a moment at the 
forces which Christianity opposed at its birth; the power of 
Judaism, Paganism, and of the Roman Empire. It con- 
quered everything in its path, as it is sure to do in the future. 
There is only one power which I know that can take a man 
from the gutter and make of him a character admirable in 
every way. The religion of Jesus Christ is doing this every 
day. Therefore, I say, do not take these pictures of the 
strength of evil forces among us as reasons for discourage- 
ment, but as incentives to greater exertions. The harvest 
truly is plenteous, and let the reapers whet their hooks and 
rejoice. — Closing remarks as Chairman of a mass meeting at 
Brooklyn for the evangelisation of the masses. 



JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL, 

Poet; Essayist; Diplomat. (1819-1891.) 

HAVE observed that many who deny the inspiration 

of the Scriptures hasten to redress their balance by 

giving reverent credit to the revelation of inspired 

tables and camp-stools. — Harper's New Monthly 

Magazine, November, 1892. 



/o 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. -95 

We have the promises of God's Word, and God's ntuure on 

our side I wouldn't drop some chapters of the 

Old Testament, even, for all the science that ever undertook 
to tell me what it doesn't know. ... I think the evo- 
lutionists will have to make a fetich of their protoplasm 
before long. Such a mush seems to me a poor substitute 
for the Rock of Ages. — Page 337, Volume 7, and pages 168 
and 245, Volume II, " Letters of James Russell Lowell" ed- 
ited by Charles Eliot Norton. 

This incident is related by W. J. Stillman in the Decem- 
ber Atlantic Monthly of 1892: "I remember once, coming 
home from Boston with those members of the Saturday Club 
who lived in Cambridge, — Agassiz, Howe, Holmes, Lowell, 
and others, that in the midst of a grave discussion upon the 
authority of the Scriptures, Lowell, passing through the exit 
of the college grounds, vaulted suddenly on one of the great 
stone columns, clapped his hands to his sides, gave a lusty 
cockcrow, and popped down again to pursue the argument, in- 
sisting on the admission of the Psalms amongst the inspired 
books." 

I fear that when we indulge ourselves in the amusement 
of going without religion we are not, perhaps, aware how 
much we are sustained by enormous mass all about us of 
religious feeling and religious conviction, so that, whatever 
it may be safe for us to think, for us who have had great ad- 
vantages, and have been brought up in such a way that a 
certain moral direction has been given to our character, I do 
not know what could have become of the less favored class 
if they undertook to play the same game. 

Whatever defects and imperfections may attach to a few 
points of the doctrinal system of Calvin — the bulk of which 
is simply what all Christians believe — it will be found that 
Calvinism, or any other ism which claims an open Bible and 
a crucified and risen Christ, is infinitely preferable to any 
form of polite and polished scepticism which gathers as its 
votaries the degenerate sons of heroic ancestors, who, having 
been trained in a society and educated in schools, the founda- 



296 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

tion of which were laid by men of faith and piety, now turn 
and kick down the ladder by which they have climbed up, 
and persuade men to live without God and leave them to die 
without hope. 

The worst kind of religion is no religion at all, and these 
men, living in ease and luxury, indulging themselves in the 
"amusement of going without religion" may be thankful that 
they live in lands where the Gospel they neglect has tamed 
the beastliness and ferocity of the men who, but for Chris- 
tianity, might long ago have eaten their carcasses like the 
South Sea Islanders, or cut off their heads and tanned their 
hides like the monsters of the French Revolution. When 
the microscope of scepticism, having hunted the heavens 
and sounded the seas to disprove the existence of a Creator 
shall have turned its attention to human society, and found 
a place ten miles square where a decent man can live in 
decency, comfort, and security, supporting and educating his 
children unspoiled and unpolluted; a place where age is rev- 
erenced, infancy appreciated, manhood respected, womanhood 
honored, and human life held 111 due regard; when sceptics 
can find such a place ten miles square on this globe where 
the Gospel of Christ has not gone and cleared the way and 
laid the foundation and made decency and security possible, 
it will then be in order for the sceptical literati to move 
thither and there ventilate their views. But so long as these 
very men are dependent upon the religion which they dis- 
card for every privilege they enjoy they may well hesitate 
a little before they seek to rob the Christian of his hopes and 
humanity of its faith in that Saviour who alone has given to 
man the hope of life eternal, which makes life tolerable and 
society possible, and robs death of its terrors and the grave 
of its gloom. — An after-dinner speech in London in honor of 
the poet Droiuning. 

King Louis IX., of France, said, when dying: "O Lord, 
I will go into Thine house, I will offer my prayer in Thine 
holy temple, and will glorify Thy name." 






:~'.H 



_>*"* 



DRIVING OUT THE MONEY-CHANGERS. 



AND Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all of them that sold and 
bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and 
the seatsjof them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall 
be called a house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. — Matthew xxi, 
12, 11. 



A CLOUD CF WITNESSES. 297 

SIR JOHN LUBBOCK, 

President of London Chamber of Commerce, and M. P„ 

|N his chapter on " The Choice of Books," he places 
the Bible the first in the list of the one hundred best 
books. 

In this same volume he says: "The Bible dwells 
most forcibly on the blessings of peace : ' My peace I give 
you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you.' Heaven is 
described as a place where the wicked cease from troubling, 
and the weary are at rest." 

"Collect from the Bible all that Christ thought necessary 
for His disciples, and how little Dogma there is. ' Pure re- 
ligion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to 
visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep 
himself unspotted from the world.' 'By this shall all men 
know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to an- 
other.' 4 Suffer little children to come unto Me.' And one 
lesson which little children have to teach us is that religion 
is an affair of the heart, and not the mind only." — Chapters 
XI and XIII, "The Pleasures of Life," by Sir John Lubbock. 



W1LHELM LUBKE, 

German Historian of Art. (1826-1893.) 

HE figures of sacred personages, beyond all others 
that of our Saviour, were thrown forward in strong 
relief. It was not enough to represent Christ under 
the allegorical figure of the Good Shepherd; men 
endeavored to reproduce the appearance of the Divine 
Teacher in the fullness of spiritual power and calm sublim- 
ity. — Page 382, Volume I, "Outlines of the History of Art," 
by Dr. Wilhelm Liibke, translated by Clarence Cook. 

In order to judge rightly of the Christian art epoch we 
must not forget to contemplate painting as well as sculpture, 




298 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

for in her creations the spiritual value of the Christian age 
is more fully and powerfully expressed, and for this reason it 
was only through Christianity that she obtained her complete 
freedom and the highest perfection. That sensuality, en- 
nobled by beauty, such as classic heathendom conceived, 
must pass away with the dawn of the spiritual doctrines of 
Christianity. — Introduction to Volume /, "History of Sculp- 
ture from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time" by Dr. 
Wilhelm Litbke, Professor of Art History at Stuttgart, trans- 
lated by F. E. Bennett. 



STEPHEN BLEECKER LUCE, 

Rear Admiral of the United States Navy; Founder of the United States 
Pen Naval War College. 

UREL/Y seamen are worthy to appear in your " Cloud 
of Witnesses." Not only did our Saviour consort with 
the seamen of Galilee, but there are many examples 
in history of noted naval heroes who exhibited the 
highest Christian virtues. I wish to be counted among this 
great company of believers in the divinity of Christ, and in 
the inspiration of all Scripture. 




4 




JOSEPH HENRY LUMPKIN, 

Lawyer, and Chief-Justice of Georgia Supreme Court. 
(1799 -1867.) 

OST cheerfully, as a man and a magistrate, while pen 

_ yi. and breath endure, and until my voice is hushed, and 

< -tyf\> my pen paralyzed in death, will I bear my humble 

testimony to the value of the Bible. Had I the wealth 

of the world, and there was but one copy of the Scriptures 

extant, and that was hid away in the uttermost parts of the 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 299 

earth, I would gladly dispose of all my treasure and traverse 
sea and land to possess myself of this pearl of great price. 
. Thank God for having, in His great mercy, organized 
this as a Christian nation. The Bible is necessary to man. 
It is the sum, and sun, and soul of his felicity. Tell me not 
of the physical improvements, the intellectual attainments 
of this wonderful age! Conscience must be convinced, en- 
lightened, quickened ; the lightning of the passions bridled 
and restrained ; and the Bible is the only book which has 
arrayed vividly before the mind the retributions of eternity, 
which has brought life and immortality to light; . . . Give 
me the Bible, which, while it dispels the darkness of the 
mind, warms and softens the moral winter of the heart ; 
which sees God and providence, and His manifold wisdom 
above, beneath, within, around ; which teaches the doctrine 
of man's fall and depravity, and reveals the plan of his 
recovery ; which opens up a way through the second Adam, 
the Lord from Heaven, to a Paradise for the posterity of 
the first, where the serpent shall no more deceive, and where 
the forbidden fruit shall never enchant. — From a letter ad- 
dressed to the American Bible Society, and dated at Athens, 
Georgia, November 4, 1852. 



SIR CHARLES LYELL, 

British Geologist. 11797-1875.) 



^N the year 1806 the French Institute enumerated no 
less than eighty geological theories which were hostile 
to the Scriptures, but not one of those theories is held 
to-day. — k ' The Bible and the Nineteenth Century" by L. 
T. Townsend, Professor in Boston University. 

His correspondence, and especially with his father, was 
marked by a deep religious tone and expression, revealing a 
fixed faith in Christ, a high regard for the Bible, and a firm 
belief in an infinite and eternal Being. He once declared in 



300 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

the presence of men of thought and science : "In whatever 
direction we pursue our researches, whether in time or in 
space, we discover everywhere the clear proofs of a Creative 
intelligence, and of His foresight, wisdom, and power." 
Science and religion for him were not divorced, or, as stated in 
a more comprehensive way by one of his biographers, Lyell 
knew and felt what the Christian world has come to feel, that 
truth must and will stand, and that there is no real conflict 
between science and religion. — "Famous Men of Science" by 
Mrs. S. K. Bolton. 




LORD GEORGE LYTTLETON. 

English Statesman and Author. (1709-1773.) 

i HE Christian religion is a Divine Revelation, 

Paul preached Christ Jesus, and not himself. Christ 
was the head, he only the minister. 

Paul determined to know nothing anions those He 
converted save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 

If the glorious light of the Gospel be sometimes overcast 
with clouds of doubt, so is the light of our reason too. 

To convert the Jews to Christ, Paul was able to argue 
from their own Scriptures, on the authority of books which 
they owned to contain Divine Revelations, and from which 
he could clearly convince them that Jesus w T as the very 
Christ. — Volume XIV, u Evangelical Family Library" 

When I first set out in the world I had friends who en- 
deavored to shake my belief in the Christian religion. I saw 
difficulties whicu staggered me, but I kept my mind open to 
conviction. The evidences and doctrines of Christianity, 
studied with attention, made me a most firm believer of the 
Christian religion. — "Memoirs a?id Correspondence of Lord 
Lyttleton, 1 7 34-1 7 7 3." 





A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 3 QI 

THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY, 

English Historian, Essayist, Poet, and Statesman. (1800-1859.) 



T the time when that 
odious style, almost 
universal, had ap- 
peared, that stu- 
pendous work, the English 
Bible — a Book which, if 
everything else in our lan- 
guage should perish, would 
alone suffice to show the 
whole extent of its beauty 
and power. — Page 348, Vol- 
ume /, Macaiday 's Essays. 

The Saviour of mankind Himself, in whose blameless life 
malice could find no act to impeach, had been called in ques- 
tion for words spoken. False witnesses had suppressed a 
syllable which would have made it clear that those words 
were figurative, and had thus furnished the Sanhedrim with 
a pretext under which the foulest of all judicial murders had 
been perpetrated. — Chapter V, "Macaulay*s History of Eng- 
land." 

God, the uncreated, the incomprehensible, the invisible, 
attracted few worshipers. A philosopher might admire so 
noble a conception, but the crowd turned away in disgust 
from words which presented no image to their minds. It 
was before Diety embodied in a human form, walking among 
men, partaking of their infirmities, leaning on their bosoms, 
weeping over their graves, slumbering in the manger, bleed- 
ing on the Cross, that the prejudices of the Synagogue, and 
the doubts of the Academy, and the pride of the Portico, 
and the fasces of the Iyictor, and the swords of thirty le- 
gions were humbled in the dust. — Lord Macaulay, Milton, 
Aug., 1825. 




302 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

ALEXANDER MACAL1STER. 

Professor of Anatomy in the University of 
Cambridge. 

-NOW ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy 

Ghost?" wrote Paul to the Corinthians. He thus 
indicates what is the highest design of the body of 
man, and though this temple is, like all things 
earthly, corruptible, yet it is worthy as a dwelling-place of 

God. It is a temple excellent in beauty. The sculptor and 
poet have exerted their highest skill in the representation of 
it. . . . We are constrained to say with the Psalmist : 
"Thou hast made him a little lower than God"; nay, more; 
for hath not God Himself, in the person of His Son, in order 
to our salvation and restoration to His own image, conde- 
scended to take upon Himself our nature, so that the perfec- 
tion of manhood is the " measure of the stature of the full- 
ness of Christ." The Christian Revelation assures us that 
man will yet be exalted to a position inconceivably more 
glorious than that which he has hitherto occupied, for as 
human nature in the person of Christ is seated at the right 
hand of God, even so shall those who by faith are united to 
Christ be elevated to bear the image of the heavenly. — 
§ . s 46—48, "Man Physiologically Considered^ a "Proscut- 
Day Tract," by Alexander Macalister. 



JOHN MACDONALD. 

A Member of the Canadian Senate. 

■ HE many and precious promises of God's Word all 
point to the general diffusion of the knowledge of the 
Lord throughout the earth, and to the ultimate and 
complete triumph of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ over everv svstem of superstition and error. 

How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel 
of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things ! | Romans x., 
14, 15). None but those sent in the truest sense, that is, 





A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 303 

those who are called and fitted by the Holy Spirit ; those 
who are sent forth, not with the consent only, but with the 
full approval of the Church, are fit messengers to declare the 
Gospel of the Son of God to the perishing heathen. — Page 
520, Volume II\ " Report of the Missionary Conference" Lon- 
don, 1888. 

SIR DUNCAN MACGREGOR. 

Scottish Major General. (1787-1882.J 

ONE of the soldiers who were in the habit of read- 
ing their Bibles can have failed to notice that faith 
) ^ in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is therein made the 
great pivot on which the salvation of man hinges ; 
that the whole human race, without distinction of rank, 
nation, age, or sex, being justly exposed to the wrath of 
Almighty God, nothing but the precious blood of Christ, 
which was shed on the Cross, can possibly atone for their 
sins; and that faith in this atonement can alone pacify the 
conscience, and awaken confidence towards God as a recon- 
ciled Father. If, therefore, " he that believeth in Christ shall 
be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned" be the 
unequivocal language of Jehovah, either expressly declared 
or obviously implied in every page of that record which He 
has vouchsafed to us of His Son, is it not a question of the 
deepest concernment to every one professing any regard for 
Divine Revelation whether he really understands and be- 
lieves that record, and whether he is able to give, not only 
to others, but to himself, a reason of this hope that is in 
him? — Page 78, " The Loss of the Kent East Indiaman" by 
General Sir Duncan Macgrcgor. 



"I hope when God Almighty, in His righteous providence, 
shall take me out of time into eternity, that it will be by a 
flash of lightning," was the wish of James Otis, and it was 
even so. On the 23d of May, 1783, he was struck down by 
a bolt from a heavy cloud. 




304 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

SIR JAMES MACINTOSH, 

British Statesman and Historian. (1765-1832.) 

HERE is nothing in this world so right as to cultivate 
and exercise kindness — the most certainly evangel- 
ical of all doctrines — THE principle of Jesus Christ. 
The above extract is taken from the " Memoirs of 
the Life of the Right Honorable James Macintosh," by his 
son, Robert James Macintosh, who also supplies this account 
of his father's last hours: "He told me that during many 
sleepless nights he passed, the contemplation of Jesus Christ 
and thoughts concerning the Gospel, with prayer to God, 
were his chief occupation. Whenever a word of Scripture 
was repeated to him he always manifested that he heard it ; 
and I especially observed, that, at every mention of Jesus 
Christ, if his eyes were closed he always opened them, and 
looked at the person who had spoken. I said to him at one 
time, 'Jesus loves you,' he answered slowly, and pausing be- 
tween each word : ' Jesus Christ — love — =the same thing.' 
He uttered these last words with a most sweet smile. After 
a long silence he continued : 'I believe'; we said in a voice 
of inquiry, 'in God?' He replied, 'In Jesus.' He spoke 
but once more after this. Upon our asking how he felt, he 
replied he was ( Happy.' " 



GEORGE PERKINS MARSH, 

Philologist and Diplomat. ( 1801-1882.) 

.HROUGH the kindness of Mrs. Caroline C. Marsh, his 
relict, this declaration of belief is furnished the 
reader: "I can not better formulate my religious faith 
than by quoting from Paul's Epistle to Timothy, chap- 
ter 1st, verse 15: 'That Christ Jesus came into the world to 
save sinners, of whom I am chief.' The last clause I know 
to be true; in the first, I trust, I hope." 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 305 

This extract, from his XXVIIIth printed lecture, is obtain- 
ed from the same source : " There is one important distinction 
between the dialect of the Scriptures, considered as an expo- 
sition of theology, and that of a science or profession. The 
sciences, all secular knowledges in fact, are mutable and 
progressive, and, of course, as they change and advance, 
their nomenclature must vary in the same proportion. The 
doctrine of the Bible, on the other hand, is a thing fixed 
and unchangeable, and when it has once found a fitting ex- 
pression in the words of a given language, there is in gen- 
eral no reason why those words should not continue to be used, 
as long as the language of which they form a part continues 
to exist. . . . To revise under present circumstances is 
to sectarianize ; to divide the one catholic English Bible, the 
common standard of authority in Protestant England and 
America, into a dozen different revelations, each authori- 
tative for its own narrow circle, but to all out of that circle 
a counterfeit: it is a practical surrender of that human ex- 
cellence of form in the English Bible which, next to the 
unspeakable value of its substance, is the greatest gift which 
God has bestowed on the British and American people." 




GIUSEPPE MAZZ1NI, 

Italian Patriot. (1805-1872.) 



HEN, in the presence of the Young Europe now 

arising, all the altars of the old world shall be 

overthrown, two new altars will be raised upon 

the soil made fruitful by the Divine Word. 

We advance, encouraged by the sacred promises of Jesus; 

we seek the new gospel, of which, before dying, He gave us 

the immortal hope, and of which the Christian Gospel is but 

the germ, even as man is the germ of Humanity. 

Christ expired. All He asked of mankind wherewith to 
save them was a cross whereon to die. But ere He died He 
had announced the glad tidings to the people. To those 



306 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

who asked Him from whence He had received it, He an- 
swered, u From God, the Father.'' From the height of His 
Cross He had invoked Him twice. Therefore, upon the Cross 
did His victory begin, and still does endure. 

Onr forefathers sleep proudly and calmly in their tombs; 
they repose, wrapped in their flags, like warriors after a bat- 
tle. Fear not to offend them. Their banner dyed red in 
the blood of Christ, translated by Luther to the Convention, 
to be raised upon the corpses of those slain in the battles of 
the people, is a sacred legacy to us all. — See Chapter on 
"Faith and the Future" in "Essays: Selected from the Writ- 
ings^ Literary, Political, and Religious" by Giuseppe Mazzini. 




JAMES CLERK MAXWELL, 

English Physicist. (1831-1879.) 

KIXK what God determined to do to all those who 
submit themselves to His righteousness and are will- 
ing to receive His s:ift. Thev are to be conformed 
to the image of His Son, and when that is fulfilled, 
and God sees that they are conformed to the image of Christ, 
there can be no more condemnation, for this is the praise 
which God Himself gives, whose judgment is just. So we 
ought always to hope in Christ, for as sure as we receive Him 
now, so sure will we be made conformable to His image. 

I think the more we enter into Christ's work He will have 
the more room to work His work in us. For he always de- 
sires us to be one that He may be one with us. Our worship 
is social, and Christ will be wherever two or three are 
gathered together in His name. May the Lord preserve you, 
and cause all the evil that assaults you to work out His own 
purposes, that the life of Jesus may be manifest in you, and 
may vou see the eternal weight of glory behind the momen- 
tary light affliction, and so get your eyes off things seen and 
temporal, and be refreshed with things eternal. — " Life of 
James Clark Maxwell" by Lewis Campbell and William Gar- 
nett. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



307 



JAMES MADISON. 

Fourth Preside-n of the United States. (1751-183*.) 



G 



^IOXG his 
manuscripts 
minute 



'W* are 




and elaborate 
notes made by him on 
the Gospels and the 
Acts of the Apostles, 
which evince a close 
and discriminating 
study of the Sacred 
Writings. In one of 
these notes, referring 
to the Bereansasmore 
noble than those of 
Thessalonica, he com- 
mends their conduct 
" as a noble example 
for all succeeding 

Christians to imitate." In another place, speaking of the 
words of Jesus to Paul at his conversion, he says, " It is not 
the talking but the zeal king and working person that is the 
true Christian." Again, l% Christ's Divinity appears by St. 
John, chapter xx, 2 : k And Thomas answered and said 
unto Him, my Lord and my God ! ' Resurrection testified 
to and witnessed by the Apostles, Acts iv, ^ : k And with 
great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of 
the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.' " — Pages 
33 and 34, Volume I, in "Biography of James Madison" by 
JVilliam C. Rives. 



I have summoned you that you might see in what tran- 
quility a Christian can die. — Joseph Addison. 



308 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

HORACE MANN, 



^ s 



Educator. (1796-1859.) 

T is our duty, and our highest interest, and our only 
freedom, to love God with all our heart and under- 
standing and mind and strength and our neighbor as 
ourself ; should strive to grow up into the likeness of 
God in Christ, eradicating something here, supplying some- 
thing there ; moulding, shaping, conforming, until it may be 
said, without blasphemy, that man is the image of God. 

But what a glorious column of the forms of men stand on 
the other side ! — true disciples of Jesus Christ, constituted of 
piety, philanthropy, and wisdom ; men who, for the truth's 
sake, can bear revilings and a crown of thorns ; can look 
without shrinking upon the cross ; nay, can die upon the 
cross if need be. But, oh ! when the sanctifying hour of 
death has passed, then the revilings become world-wide hom- 
ages ; the crown of thorns, a crown of amaranth, blossoming 
forever in the air of heaven ; even the accursed Cross is made 
sacred in the eyes of men. — From "Life of Horace Mann," 
by his wife. 

JOHN MARSHALL, 

Chief-Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1801-1835.) 

G\ ^755-1835). 

^ToTIS daughter makes this statement regarding her 
\\ father's religious views: kk The reason why he never 
°^yS communed was that he was a Unitarian in opinion, 
though he never joined that society. He told me 
that he believed in the truth of the Christian Revelation, but 
not in the divinity of Christ ; but during the last months of 
his life he read 4i Keith on Prophecy," where our Saviour's 
divinity is incidentally treated, and was convinced by this 
work, and the fuller investigation to which it led, of the su- 
preme divinity of our Saviour. He determined to apply to 






A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 309 

to the communion of our Church, objecting to communion 
in private, because he thought it his duty to make a public 
confession of the Saviour ; and while waiting for improved 
health to enable him to go to Church for that purpose, he 
grew worse and died. — Page 265, "John Marshall" American 
Statesmen Series, by Allen B. Magruder. 




WILLIAM MATHEWS, 

Author. 

.OR ourselves, we thank God for every exposure of a 
forgery, whether in His Book, or in man's books; and 
to our mind the most cogent proof that the Holy 
Scriptures are from Him, is the fact that while other 
histories have been found to swarm with errors, they, when 
subjected to the intensest, most microscopic scrutiny of mod- 
ern criticism, have come forth from the ordeal substantially 
unscathed. — Page 213 of his "Hours with Men and Books." 

The words "crime" and "criminal" belong to all lan- 
guages, but those of " sin" and " sinner," belong only to the 
Christian tongue. For a similar reason man could always 
call God " Father," which expresses only a relation of crea- 
tion and power ; but no man of his own strength could say 
" my Father," for this is the relation of love, foreign even to 
Mount Sinai, and which belongs only to Calvary. — Page 81 
of his "Words, and their Use and Abuse" 



JOSEPH W. MAUCK, 

President of the University of South Dakota. 

BELIEVE that the Christ is the Son of the living 
God, the only example of a perfect life ; that the Holy 
Bible is the Word of a God of infinite wisdom and 
love ; that man has a capacity for attaining to the 
likeness of his Creator by observing that Word; that the 
glorifying of God contemplated by the Word is a rational and 



3IO A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

natural means of such attainment (not an end) ; that our in- 
ability to explain some of the "mysteries" of the Scriptures 
and the proved results of "acceptance" of the Christ arises 
from imperfection in our attainment; that without excep- 
tion the remarkable promises of the Bible and the Christ are 
realized in so far as a fair test of the same is made. 




MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY. 

Scientist and Hydrogtapher. (1806-1873.) 

HAVE always found in my scientific studies, that, 

when I could get the Bible to say anything on the 

subject it afforded me a firm platform to stand upon, 

and a round in the ladder by which I could safely 

ascend. 

As our knowledge of nature and her laws has increased, so 
has our knowledge of many passages of the Bible improved. 
The Bible called the earth " the round world," yet for ages 
it was the most damnable heresy for Christian men to say 
that the world is round ; and, finally, sailors circumnavigated 
the globe, and proved the Bible to be right, and saved Chris- 
tian men of science from the stake. And as for the general 
system of circulation which I have been so long endeavor- 
ing to describe, the Bible tells it all in a single sentence : 
" The wind goeth toward the South and returneth again to 
his circuits. — "Physical Geography of the Sea" by Matthew 
Fontaine Maury. 

Salmasius, a distinguished classical scholar of France, re- 
marked when dying: "Oh, I have lost a world of time — 
time, the most precious thing on earth, whereof if I had 
but one year more it should be spent in David's Psalms and 
Paul's Epistles. Oh ! mind the world less, and God more." 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 311 

HUGH McCALMONT, 

(LORD CAIRNS,) 

Irish Lawyer; Twice Lord High Chancellor of England. 

(1819-1885.) 

EING justified by faith we have peace with God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ." Our one object 
should be to testify our love to Him. God help us 
all in this room, and every one else, to live in this 
faith, and to die in this faith, for Jesus Christ's sake. " God 
so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have 
eternal life " — eternal, ETERNAL/ life ! It is necessary for 
each one of us to follow in the steps of our great Master. 
Let nothing come between us and this. — "Brief Memoirs 
of Hugh McCahnont, First Earl of Cairns (1885)," pages 81 
and 82. 

HUGH McCURDY. 

Grand Master of Knights Templar, United States of 
C\ 9 n America. 



I 




,;Vy OUR favor, asking for an expression of my 
°Yjn faith in "Christ and the Bible" was re- 
ceived. I give it to you with pleasure : I believe 
in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven 
and earth : and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord : 
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin 
Mary: suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead 
and buried: He descended into hell: the third day He 
rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven and 
sitteth on the right hand of God the Almighty Father: 
from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the 
dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost: the holy Church: the 
Communion of the Saints: the forgiveness of sins: the 
Resurrection of the body: and the Life everlasting. Amen. 



Jl^^L c h* ^ rx ^^dL / , Jf* 



S 1 ^ 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 




GEORGE BRINTON McCLELLAN, 

Major General of the United States Army. (1826-1885.) 



IS religion was deep, 

earnest, practical; not 

vague or ill-defined 

to himself or others; 
not obtrusive, but outspok- 
en, frank, and hearty, for it 
was a part and parcel of his 
soul. I must use brief words, 
and I seek to make them dis- 
tinct in denning his creed, 
which was clear as crystal, 
more steadfast th an the hills 
— the faith once delivered 
to the saints in its pure sim- 
plicity. With his intellect- 
ual powers, which were of 
the highest, and with his 
heart, which was supremely 
gentle, as trustful all his life 
as any child's, he was a servant and follower of Jesus Christ, 
in whom he believed as God, of God. — See " Biographical 
Sketch of George B. McClellan" by W. C. Prime, in u Mc- 
Clellarts Own Story" 




MEMORIALTABLET 

•m-HI5-CRURCrt-H0ttE- 



'ORA/iGt-ttOU/HAI/f 

•rttWJfcRStY- 



william f. Mcdowell, 

Chancellor of the University of Denver. 

HE truest philosophy, the noblest poetry, the highest 
ethics, the most fascinating history, the richest biog- 
raphy, the most spiritual devotional literature are in 
the Bible. Sir Walter Scott's judgment has never 
been reversed : " There is but one Book! " Its principal char- 
acter is Jesus Christ. He is the chief Person of history. 
There is no other perfect man ; there is no other Saviour. 




ury Jm^r^^ui 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



313 





WILLIAM McKlNLEY, 

Congressman; Governor of Ohio. 

HIS sentiment 

of Divine 

power marked 

the progre ss 
of the republic at 
every stage. Lincoln, 
like Washington, il- 
lustrated in his life 
and administration 
faith in God. It is 
seen in his first inau- 
gural address and in 
most of his public ut- 
terances which fol- 
lowed. On March 4, 
1861, he said : " In- 
telligence, patriotism, 
Christianity, and a firm reliance upon Him who has never 
forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust in 
the best way all our present difficulties." — From his Fourth 
of July address before the Baptist Young Peopled Union, Lake- 
side, Ohio, 1892. 

What a glorious sentiment you have subscribed from the 
pen of the sweet-spirited and gifted Bishop Simpson : " We 
live to make our own Church a power in the land, while we 
live to love every other Church that exalts our Christ." That 
broad Christian liberality lies at the basis of your league 
work. Keep it there. Every organization of this kind is a 
mighty force. It demonstrates that a Christian character is 
helpful in every avenue or emergency in life. The demand 
of the time and the need of the hour is the young man se- 
curely grounded in honesty, integrity ; the man of pure char- 
acter. It is the best thing he can have, the safest companion, 
the strongest friend. — Extract from his Welcome Speech at 
Cleveland to Representatives of the Epworth League at its 
First International Conference, June 29, 1893. 




314 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JOHN McLEAN, 

Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1829-1861. 

(1785-1861.) 

HIS letter, dated at Chapel Wood, November 4, 1852, 
was written to the American Bible Society: "No one 
can estimate or describe the salutary influence of the 
Bible. What would the world be without it ? Com- 
pare the dark places of the earth, where the light of the 
Gospel has not penetrated, with those where it has been 
proclaimed and embraced in all its purity. Life and immor- 
tality are brought to light by the Scriptures. Aside from 
Revelation, darkness rests upon the world and upon the 
future. There is no ray of light to shine upon our pathway; 
there is no star of hope. We begin our speculations as to 
our destiny in conjecture, and they end in uncertainty. We 
know not that there is a God, a heaven, or a hell, or any 
day of general account, when the wicked and the righteous 
shall be judged. The Bible has shed a glorious light upon 
the world. It shows us that in the coming day we must 
answer for the deeds done in the body. It has opened to us 
a new and living way, so plainly marked out that no one can 
mistake it. The price paid for our redemption shows the 
value of our immortal souls." 



LORENZO DE MEDICI, 

Prince of Florence; Poet and Patron of Art and Literature. (1448-1492.) 
P^-s PRAISE TO THE REDEEMER. 

(p "FOLLOW that fervor, O devoted spirit, 
X^ With which thy Saviours goodness fires thy breast; 
A^ Go where it draws, and when it calls, oh, hear it ; 
It is thy Shepherd's voice, and leads to rest.' 

In this, thy new devotedness of feeling, 

Suspicion, envy, anger, have no claim ; 
Sure hope is highest happiness revealing, 

With peace and gentleness and purest fame. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



315 



For in thy holy and thy happy sadness, 

If tears or sighs are sometimes sown by thee, 

In the pure region of immortal gladness, 
Sweet and eternal shall thy harvest be. 

Leave them to say, " This people's meditation 
Is vain and idle ! " Sit with ear and eye 

Fixed upon Christ, in child-like dedication, 
O thou inhabitant of Bethany ! 





GEORGE GORDON MEADE, 

Major General of the United States Army. (1815-1872.) 



HROUGH the kind- 
ness of his son, Col- 
onel George Meade, 
these facts have been 
obtained: " Death came sud- 
denly, with the sound of a 
foot-fall. There were a few 
days when friends waited 
on medical skill, but his 
heart was on the country 
whither he was going. He 
looked to the Saviour, who 
was the only one in Heaven 
or earth who could help him. He asked for the Holy Com- 
munion, and by the Lord's table gathered manna for the 
last journey. The words of penitence and the look of faith 
were blended with his dying prayers. General Meade's re- 
ligious principles were exhibited in his daily life, in his in- 
tercourse with his fellow men, and the Christian example he 
set. As far as his outward profession of belief was con- 
cerned, he was an active and attentive communicant in our 
Church from an early day, and died in the triumphs of faith 
in the great Captain of his salvation." 




316 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

WESLEY MERRITT, 

Brigadier General of United States Army. 

.HE principles of life as taught in the Bible, the in- 
spired Word, and exemplified in the matchless Life 
of Him "who spake as never man spake," are the 
rules of moral action which have resulted in civiliz- 
ing the world. 

The testimony of great men, like Gladstone and his fellow 
statesmen; like Havelock and his fellow soldiers, who have 
made the teachings of the Scriptures their rule of conduct in 
life, are wonderful helps to men of lesser note and smaller 
intellectual and moral powers. One example, even of the 
smallest of these, more than offsets the efforts of an hundred 
unbelievers in active opposition. They are the worthy fol- 
lowers of the religion of the Bible, and in their daily lives 
interpret the inimitable example and Divine precepts of the 
Son of God, our Saviour. 



JOSEPH FRANCOIS MICHAUD, 

French Journalist and Publicist. (1767-1839.) 

*HAT land consecrated by the presence of the Saviour, 
that mountain whereon He had expiated our sins by 
His sufferings, that tomb in which he deigned to be 
inclosed as a victim to death, had all become the her- 
itage of the impious. God had no longer a sanctuary in His 
own city ; the East, the cradle of the Christian religion, now 
witnessed nothing but sacrilegious pomps ; impiety had 
spread its darkness over all the countries of Asia. — (( Peter, 
the Hermit of the Crusades" by Joseph Francois Michaud. 





A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 317 

CINCINNATUS HINER MILLER, 

("JOAQUIN MILLER,") 

Poet and Author. 
CHRIST'S GREAT LESSON OF CHARITY. 



LL crushed and stone-cast in behavior, 
She stood as a marble would stand ; 
Then the Saviour bent down, and the Saviour 
In silence wrote on in the sand. 

What wrote He ? How fondly one lingers 
And questions what holy command 

Fell down from the beautiful fingers 
Of Jesus, like gems in the sand. 

He arose and He look'd on the daughter 

Of Eve, like a delicate flower, 
And he heard the revilers that brought her — 
Men stormy, and strong as a tower ; 

And He said, " She has sinn'd ; let the blameless 

Come forward and cast the first stone ! " 
But they, they fled, shamed, and yet shameless, 
And she, she stood white and alone. 

Who now shall accuse and arraign us ? 

What man shall condemn and disown ? 
Since Christ has said only the stainless 

Shall cast at his fellows a stone. 

Man has built himself huge walls to shut out the light. 
The flowers blossom continually along the pages of the 
prophets of old he never sees any more. The parables of 
that Divinely beautiful Christ, written in the language of 
flowers all over the land, are to him a book that is sealed. 
. . . Now add the next words : "In the beginning God 
created the heaven. And the earth was without form, and 
void ; and darkness was upon the face of the waters. And 
God said, let there be light : and there was light." How 



318 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

many paragraphs, pages, books, would a modern author de- 
vote in telling this ? Mark you ; I am looking at this in quite 
a worldly way. It is the boast of too many that these words 
are entirely the words of a man. As for myself I can only 
say, " If so, oh for another such man ! " — Selections from 
Joaquin Millers "A Neglected Book." 



HUGH MILLER, 

Scottish Geologist and Author. (1802-1856.) 

A>7Vv>T length, in the fullness of time, the Messiah comes,. 
^lqjL an d in satisfying the law, and in fulfilling all right- 
ed (5)° eousness, and in bringing life and immortality to 
light, abundantly shows forth that the terminal dy- 
nasty of all creation had been of old foreordained, ere the 
foundations of the world, to possess for its eternal Lord and 
Monarch, not primeval man, created in the image of God, but 
God, made manifest in the flesh, in the form of primeval 
man. — Chapter on "Geology in its Bearings on the Two The- 
ologies" in " Testimony of the Rocks" by Hugh Miller. 

Now is it according to reason and analogy that the true 
religions should be formed, if I may so express myself, on a 
popular principle ? Is it not indispensable that the religion 
which God reveals should be suited to the human nature 
which God has made ? Artificial religions, with all their 
minute rationalities, are not suited to it at all, and, therefore, 
take no hold on the popular mind ; natural religions, with 
all their immense popularity, are not suited to improve it. 
It is Christianity alone which unites the popularity of the 
one class with the rationality and more than the purity of the 
other — that gives to Deity, as the man Christ Jesus, His 
strong hold on the human affections, and restores to Him 
His abstract character as Father of all, the homage of the 
understanding. — Letter to Lord Brougham in "Headship of 
Christ," by Hugh Miller. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 3IO/ 

LEWIS MILLER, 

Financier and Manufacturer. 

THINK a little incident that occurred with my boy 
when but four or five years old clearly illustrates 
what almost every person must recognize. It was 
when the first excitement of scepticism had at- 
tracted the public mind. He was standing steadily looking 
out of the parlor window ; his mother asked him what he 
was looking at. He replied, " I was looking at that tree ; 
anybody might know there was a God if they would just look 
at that tree." I think that anybody who will conscientiously 
examine into the present high character of business affairs, 
and also study the teachings of Christ, will come to the con- 
clusion that the " Great Model" is more than human. Nearly 
every element of business is carried on upon the broad pur- 
poses of our Christian religion and its Divine Book. 




iAArf 




RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES, 

("LORD HOUGHTON,") 

English Statesman and Writer. (1809-1885.) 




A SELECTION. 

OHAMMED'S truth lay in a holy book, 
Christ's in a sacred life. 

So while the world rolls on from change to change, 

And realms of thought expand, 
The letter stands without expanse or range, 

Stiff as a dead man's hand. 

While, as the life-blood fills the growing form, 

The spirit Christ has shed 
Flows through the ripening ages fresh and warm, 

More felt than heard or read. 



320 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 




JOHN MILTON, 

English Poet. (1608-1674.) 




C< 



bET us all go, every 

true protested Briton, 

j^o throughout the three 

kingdoms, and render 

thanks, to God, the Father 

of light, and fountain of 

heavenly grace, and to His 

Son, Christ the Lord. — See 

" Miltorts Animadversions 

upon the Reply of Smectym- 

nuus" 

No man or angel can 
know how God would be 
worshiped and served unless God reveal it: He hath re- 
vealed and taught it us in the Holy Scriptures by inspired 
ministers, and in the Gospel by His own Son, and His 
apostles, with strictest command to reject all other traditions 
or additions whatever. — Miltoii s s "True Religion, Heresy, 
Schism, Toleration." 



ORMSBY MACKNIGHT MITCHEL, 

Astronomer; Major-General in Civil War. (1810-1862.) 

>ET us turn to the language of the Bible; it furnishes 
the only vehicle to express the thoughts which over- 
^ whelm us, and we break out involuntarily in the lan- 
guage of God's own inspiration: "Have ye not known, 
hath it not been told to you from the beginning, have ye not 
understood from the foundation of the earth? It is He who 
sitteth upon the circle of the earth, that stretcheth out the 
heavens like a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 321 

dwell in. L,ift up your eyes on high, and behold. Who hath 
created all these things, that bringeth out their host by num- 
ber? It is He who meted out the heavens with a span, and 
comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and 
weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in balances. 
It is He who stretcheth out the north over the empty place, 
and hangeth the earth upon nothing. He telleth the number 
of the stars. He calleth them all by their names." — From 
his hook, " The Astronomy of the Bible." 




COUNT HELMUTH VON MOLTKE, 

Prussian Field Marshal. (1800-1890.) 

OD comfort and preserve the other children if the 
dreadful sickness takes a malignant form. But God 
gives and takes away, and we must be comforted to 
know that nothing happens but according to His 
will. I can give you no comfort, nor can anyone, but only 
your religious feelings and trust in Christ. May God com- 
fort you and help you through the first bitter days! 
Your Affectionate and Faithful Brother, 

Helmuth. 
— To his brother, Adolph. 

The memory of so many thousands of the noblest men 
of Germany, France, and Italy, of so many millions of de- 
vout Christians, who willingly sacrificed their property and 
their lives in order that they might set foot on the conse- 
crated soil of Palestine, drink from the waters of the Jordan, 
and behold the city — all have been hitherto counted in the 
circulation of the European Cabinets as so much empty 
moonshine. Jerusalem, and the grave of our Redeemer, 
Syria and the fate of the Christian population, have been 
once more abandoned to the infidels, and the reins of gov- 
ernment placed in trembling hands, from which they threat- 
en to fall every moment. — Page 290, Volume I, of "Essays, 
Speeches, and Memorials of Field Marshal Von Moltke" 



322 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

CHARLES DE SECONDAT MONTESQUIEU, 

French Jurist and Philosopher. (1689-1755.) 

HAVE always respected religion ; the morality of the 
Gospel is the noblest gift ever bestowed by God on 
man. 

We shall see that we owe to Christianity, in gov- 
ernment, a certain political law, and in war a certain law of 
nations — benefits which human nature can never sufficiently 
acknowledge. 

The principles of Christianity, deeply engraved on the 
heart, would be infinitely more powerful than the false honor 
of monarchies, than the humane virtues of republics, or the 
servile fear of despotic states. 

It is the Christian religion that, in spite of the extent of 
empire and the influence of climate, has hindered despotic 
power from being established in Ethiopia, and has carried 
into the heart of Africa the manners and laws of Europe. 

The Christian religion is a stranger to mere despotic 
power. The mildness so frequently recommended in the 
Gospel is incompatible with the despotic rage with which a 
prince punishes his subjects, and exercises himself in cru- 
elty.— See Book XXIV of "Spirit of Laws," by Charles De 
Second at Montesquieu. 



MICHEL EYQLJEM SEGNEUR MONTAIGNE, 

French Essayist and Philosopher. (1533-1592.) 

aaINCE, by a particular favor of the Divine bounty, a 
certain form of prayer has been prescribed and dic- 
tated to us, word by word, from the mouth of God 
Himself, I have ever been of the opinion that we 
ought to have it in more frequent use than we yet have ; and, 
if I were worthy to advise, at the sitting down and rising 
from our tables, at our rising and going to bed, and in every 
particular action, wherein prayer is required, I wish that 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 323 

Christians always made use of our Lord's Prayer, if not alone, 
yet at least always. 'Tis the only prayer I use in all places 
and conditions. 

It is not without very good reason, in my opinion, that the 
Church interdicts the promiscuous, indiscreet, and irreverent 
use of the holy and Divine Psalms, with which the Holy 
Ghost inspired King David. We ought not to mix God in 
our actions but with the highest reverence and caution. 
That poesy is too sacred to be put to no other use than to ex- 
ercise the lungs, and to delight our ears. It ought to come 
from the soul, and not from the tongue. . . . Neither is 
it decent to see the Holy Bible, the rule of our worship and 
belief, tumbled up and down the hall or kitchen. They were 
formerly mysterious, but are now become sports and recrea- 
tions. 'Tis a Book too serious and too venerable to be cur- 
sorily or lightly turned over. The reading of the Scriptures 
ought to be a temperate and premeditated act, to which men 
should always add this devout preface, Sursum corda, prepar- 
ing even the body to be so humble and composed a gesture 
and countenance as should evidence their reverence and at- 
tention. — " Montaigne* } s Essais" b. i. 56. 




GEORGE MOORE, 

English Financier and Philanthropist. (1806-1876.) 

WAS delighted to find that Charles Dickens was sound 
upon the Gospel. I found him to be a true Christian 
without great profession. 

I have no wavering about the inspiration of the 
Word; no picking and choosing amid alleged myths; no 
paring down of the atonement. 

I believe the Gospel. I love the Lord Jesus Christ. I re- 
ceive with confidence the promise, that "He that heareth 
my word and believeth Him that sent Me hath everlasting 
life, and shall not come unto condemnation, but is passed 
from death unto life." 



324 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

I have no doubt of my Heavenly Father's love. Christ 
says: " Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." 
I have thought a good deal about death lately. I have tried 
to realize in my soul that there is nothing to fear if one is 
certain to be with Christ. I do believe that Jesus will go 
with me through the dark valley, and I shall have an abund- 
ant entrance into the presence of God. — Extracts from "The 
Successful Merchant" by Samuel Smiles. 



JAMES MONTGOMERY 

Scottish Poet. ( 1771-1854.) 




A VISIT TO BETHLEHEM IN SPIRIT 



HROUGH David's city I am led ; 

Here all around are sleeping- ; 
A light directs to yon poor shed, 

Their lonely watch is keeping. 
I enter ; ah, what glories shine! 
Is this Immanuel's earthly shrine, 

Messiah's Infant temple ? 

It is, it is ! and I adore 

This Stranger meek and lowly, 

As saints and angels bow before 
The throne of God thrice holy ! 

Faith through the veil of flesh can see 

The face of Thy divinity, 

My Eord, my God, my Saviour ! 



THE BIBLE. 

What is the world ? A wildering maze, 
Where sin hath trac'd ten thousand ways 

Her victims to ensnare ; 
All broad, and winding, and aslope, 
All tempting with perfidious hope, 

All ending in despair. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 325 

Millions of pilgrims throng those roads, 
Bearing their baubles, or their loads, 

Down to eternal night ; 
One humble path, that never bends, 
Narrow, and rough, and steep, ascends 

From darkness into light. 

Is there a Guide to show that path ? 
The Bible. He alone who hath 

The Bible need not stray; 
Yet he who hath and will not give 
That heavenly Guide to all that live 

Himself shall lose the way. 



THOMAS MOORE, 

Irish Poet. (1779-1852.) 



~ LORD, WHO SHALE BEAR THAT DAY. 

^bORD, who shall bear that day, so dread, so splendid, 



' (Vy When we shall see Thy angel hovering o'er 
c 



^"^90 This sinful world, with hand to Heaven extended, 



And hear him swear by Thee that time's no more ? 
When earth shall feel Thy fast consuming ray — 
Who, mighty God, oh, who shall bear that day ? 

When through the world trry awful call hath sounded- 
" Wake, all ye dead, to judgment wake, ye dead ! " 

And from the clouds, by seraphs' eyes surrounded, 
The Saviour shall put forth His radiant head ; 

While earth and Heaven before Him pass away — 
Who, mighty God, oh, who shall bear that day ? 

When, with a glance, the eternal Judge shall sever 
Earth's evil spirits from the pure and bright, 

And say to those, " Depart from Me forever ! " 

To these, " Come, dwell with Me in endless light ! " 

When each and all in silence take their way — 
Who, mighty God, oh, who shall bear that day ? 




326 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

SAMUEL MORLEY, 

English Merchant and Philanthropist. (1809-1886.) 

*HE Bible will make its own way, and do its own 
work. It is its own best witness. Let ns hold fast 
then by the Bible, with no wavering faith, bnt man- 
fully stand up for it in the family, in the pulpit, and 
in the pew. It was never more powerful than at the present 
time ; never more popular among the common people. Faith 
in His Word is what God is teaching us as our first duty. 

Book of God and the God of books ! The Bible is the 
light and life of our dwelling. The home-life of this coun- 
try owes everything that is pure and true to the Word of 
God. No false religion fosters the virtues of a happy fire- 
side. I believe that in putting into missionary hands the 
Bible, you give the key by which the dark places of the 
earth may be opened to the light. The best evidence of the 
Divine origin of the Bible is the life of those who are living 
up to its precepts. — Page 458 of his Life, by Hodder. 



ELIJAH A. MORSE, 

C\ o Congressman and Manufacturer. 



°9n 




OU ask my personal opinion of Christ and the Bible, 
answer that all other books may be ten thousand 
lanterns, but they are not the sun. One of my 
illustrious and distinguished predecessors in the 
Congress of the United States, John Quincy Adams, " the 
old man eloquent," who, after being President of the United 
States, said, as he drew near the close of his active career, 
that it had been his habit through life to spend an hour 
each day in the reading of the Holy Scriptures. We grad- 
uate in other studies, in Arithmetic, Geography, History, 
Philosophy, and Science, but never in this Book, the in- 
spired truths of which shine on with an unchanging lustre. 
You ask: "What think ye of Christ?" What a ring is 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 327 

from which the diamond has been lost; what the clothes of 
a child are to a child who is dead, that is the Bible without 




SAMUEL F1NLEY BREESE MORSE, 

Inventor of the Telegraph. (1791-1872.) 

N ackn owledg- 

ment of the sad 

news of the death 

of his wife, he ad- 
dressed his father: k 'Oh, 
is it possible ? Is it pos- 
sible ? Shall I nev e r 
see in y wi f e again? 
But I can not trust my- 
self to write on this 
subject. I need your 
prayers and those of 
Christian friends." 

After the completion 
of the first line between 
Washington and Balti- 
more, these four words 
from the Bible, which 

were in accord with his feelings, were wired from Baltimore 
to friends assembled in the chamber of the United States Su- 
preme Court: " What hath God wrought? " 

During those anxious days between failure and success, he 
wrote his wife : " The only gleam of hope, and I can not 
underrate it, is from confidence in God. When I look up- 
ward it calms my apprehensions for the future, and I seem 
to hear a voice saying: ' If I clothe the lilies of the field, 
shall I not also clothe you ? ' Here is my strong confidence, 
and I will wait patiently for the direction of Providence." 




328 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

June 10, 1 87 1, a bronze statue of Professor Morse was un- 
veiled in Central Park. In the evening a brilliant reception 
was given him at the Academy of Music, this dispatch being 
sent him on his ORIGINAL register : "GREETING AND 
THANKS TO THE TELEGRAPHIC FRATERNITY 
THROUGH THE LAND. GLORY TO GOD IN THE 
HIGHEST, ON EARTH PEACE, GOOD-WILL. TO 
MEN." And then the white-haired Morse, now eighty 
years old, took his seat at the instrument and signed his 
name to the message, " S. F. B. Morse." " Through all the 
days of poverty," says his biographer, u as well as pros- 
perity, Morse preserved his earnest Christian character, 
and his child-like, tender, loving nature. Trials did not 
embitter him as they sometimes do, and honors did not 
exalt him above his fellows. American history does not 
furnish a more sublime illustration of faith in God and 
indomitable perseverance." That he was a friend of the 
Word of God is shown by his gift of ten thousand dollars 
to the Union Theological Seminary, endowing a lecture- 
ship on the " Relation of the Bible to the Sciences," named 
in honor of his father. — " Famous Men of Science" by Sarah 
K. Bolton. 

GEORGE PERKINS MORRIS, 

Poet and Journalist. (1802-1864.) 




THY WILL BE DONE. 

d\e ■ 

IVER of all ! for every good 
In the Redeemer came ; 
For raiment, shelter, and for food 
I thank Thee in His name. 

Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost! 

Thou glorious three in one ! 
Thou knowest best what I need most, 

And let Thy will be done. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 329 

MY MOTHER'S BIBLE. 

This Book is all that's left me now,— 

Tears will unbidden start,— 
With faltering lip, and throbbing brow 

I press it to my heart. 
For many generations past 

Here is our family tree ; 
My mother's hands this Bible clasped, 

She, dying, gave it me. 

Ah ! well do I remember those 

Whose names these records bear; 
Who round the hearthstone used to close, 

After the evening prayer, 
And speak of what these pages said 

In tones my heart would thrill ; 
Though they are with the silent dead, 

Here are they living still ! 

My father read this Holy Book 

To brothers, sisters dear; 
How calm was my poor mother's look, 

Who loved God's Word to hear ! 
Her angel face,— I see it yet ! 

What thronging memories come ! 
Again that little group is met 

Within the halls of home. 

Thou truest friend man ever knew, 

Thy constancy I've tried ; 
When all were false, I found thee true, 

My counsellor and guide. 
The mines of earth no treasures give 

That could this Volume buy ; 
In teaching me the way to live,,. 

It taught me how to die! 



Even He who died for us upon the Cross, in the last hour, 
in the unutterable agony of death, was mindful of His mother, 
as if to teach us that this holy love should be our last worldly 
thought. — Page 482, " Allibone } s Prose Quotations" 




330 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

OLIVER PERRY MORTON, 

Statesman; Indiana War Governor. (1823-1877.) 

, ,OR the sympathy expressed for me by the people at 
X home, I am most grateful, and you are right when you 
say that I deeply appreciate the prayers which have 
been offered up by the praying friends whom I have 
left behind. I am no infidel. I was educated by pious 
grandparents to a professed belief in Christianity, and was 
taught to reverence holy things. And I have never fallen 
into disbelief, nor have I been the immoral man some would 
have the world believe. The Christian gentleman is the 
noblest and loveliest character on earth, for which I entertain 
the highest respect and love. I recognize the hand of Provi- 
dence in all the affairs of men, and believe there is a Divine 
economy which regulates the lives and conduct of nations. 
— Pages 184 and 185 of" Life and Character of Oliver Perry 
Morton" by Charles M. Walker. 




JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY, 

Historian and Diplomat. 11814-1877.) 

,HE following is an extract from a letter to Dean Stan- 
ley: " How glad I am that your mind and body are 
both vigorous and fresh, notwithstanding the great 
calamity which God has sent upon you. . . . The 
delicate and masterly manner in which you have traced out 
the connection between the ideas of the one invisible God 
revealing Himself at many intervals of time and space, and 
through different races, to the highest of what we call human 
intellect ; and the idea of a future life unknown and unim- 
aginable conditions, is to me most striking. Intense love 
seems to me to annihilate death, and love is the foundation 
of the Christian revelation." — Vol. II of his correspondence. 
These lines appear on the stone where all that is mortal 
rests : 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 33 1 

JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY, 

Born at Dorchester, Mass., April 15, 1814. 

Died near Dorchester, Dorset, May 29, 1877. 

" In God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." 



GEORGE F. MOSHER, 

President of Hillsdale College. 

BELIEVE that Jesus Christ came from God to teach 
the world the way to God, and that no way leads 
there so directly as the way He has pointed out in 
the Inspired Word. I believe that He was the great- 
est Philosopher, and His religion is the truest philosophy 
that the world has ever seen, or will ever see. 






VALENTINE MOTT, 

Physician and Surgeon. ( 1785-1865.) 

^F my life shall be taken suddenly, as I believe it will, 
my family may know that my implicit faith and 
hope is in a merciful Redeemer, who is the Resurrec- 
tion and the Life. Amen and Amen. — A memorandum 
found among his private papers after death. 

What a span of life I have attained to ! How thankful I 
am, and ought to be, for so great a Divine favor ! My desire 
is to live that I may worship and enjoy, for the balance of 
my life, a feeling of the presence of my Almighty Father, 
and that through my Lord and Saviour I may be brought to 
partake of a small portion of His everlasting happiness. If 
for no temporary object my life has been spared, one thing I 
am sure of — that I have lived to be changed from a sceptic to 
a full believer in the Divinity of my Saviour. What an un- 
speakable felicity awaits those who put their trust in Him, 
who is truly our Lord and Saviour. — Page 27 in u Eulogy on 
the late Valentine Mott," by A. C. Post. 



332 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART, 

German Musical Composer. (1756-1791.) 



"T is a great 

consolation 

for me to 

remember 
that the Lord, to 
whom I had drawn 
near in hnmble and 
child-like faith, 
has suffered and 
died for me, and 
that He will look 
on me in love and 
compassion. 

To a friend he 
writes from Paris, 
July 3, 1778: 
" Mourn with me! 
This has been the 

most melancholy day of my life ; I am now writing at two 
o'clock in the morning. I must tell you that my mother, 
my darling mother, is no more. God has called her to Him- 
self; I clearly see that it was His will to take her from us, 
and I must learn to submit to the will of God. The Lord 
giveth and the Lord taketh away. ... I am fully con- 
vinced that God has so ordained it. All I would ask of you 
at present is, to act the part of a true friend, by preparing 
father by degrees for this sad intelligence. . . . May 
God give him strength and courage! My dear friend, I am 
consoled not only now, but I have been for some time past. 
By the mercy of God, I have borne it with all firmness and 
composure. When the danger became imminent, I prayed 
my heavenly Father for only two things — a happy death for 
my mother, and strength and courage for myself, and our 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 333 

gracious God neard my prayer, and conferred those two 
boons fully upon me. — Pages 210, 211, Volume I, and 275, 
276, Volume I J " The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart" 
translated by Lady Wallace. 




FRIEDER.ICH MAX MULLER, 

Professor of German-English Sanscrit, University of 
Oxford. 

.HUS only can we repeat the words, " In the begin- 
ning was the Word, and the Word became flesh," not 
as thoughtless repeaters, but as honest thinkers and 
believers. The first sentence, " In the beginning 
was the Word," requires thought, and thought only; the 
second, "and the Logos became flesh," requires faith — faith 
such as those who knew Jesus had in Jesus. — Page 936, Vol- 
ume /, " World's Parliament of Religions" edited by the Rev. 
John Henry Barrows. 

It was Christianity which first broke down the barriers 
between Jew and Gentile, between Greek and barbarian, be- 
tween white and black. Humanity is a word which you 
look for in vain in Plato and Aristotle. The idea of mankind 
as one family, as the children of one God, is an idea of 
Christian growth; and the science of mankind is a science 
wmich, without Christianity, would never spring into life. — 
See Lecture Fourth on " The Science of Language" by Pro- 
fessor F. Max Miiller. 

They all say (speaking of the Asiatics) that salvation must 
be bought with a price, and that the sole price must be our 
own works and deservings. Our own Bible, our sacred Book 
from the East, is from beginning to end a protest against this 
doctrine. Good works are indeed enjoined upon us in that 
Book, but they are the outcome of a grateful heart — the fruits 
of our faith. They are never the ransom-money of the true 
disciple of Christ. Let us teach Hindoos, Buddhists, Mo- 
hammedans that there is only one sacred Book of the East 



334 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

that can be their mainstay in that awful hour when they 
shall pass alone into the unseen world. It is the sacred Book 
which contains that faithful saying, worthy to be received of 
all^ men, women, and children, that Christ Jesus came into 
the world to save sinners. — From an Address before the Brit- 
ish and Foreign Bible Society. 




SIR WILLIAM MUIR, 

Principal of the University of Edinburg. 

RITERS have been found who, dwelling on the 
benefits conferred by Islam on idolatrous nations, 
have gone so far as to hold that the religion 
of Mahomet may be suited to certain portions 
of mankind, as if the faith of Jesus might peaceably divide 
with the world. But, surely, to acquiesce in a system which 
reduces the people to a dead level of social depression, des- 
potism, and semi-barbarism, would be abhorrent from the 
first principles of philanthropy. With the believer who 
holds the Gospel to be "Good tidings of great joy, which 
shall be to all people" such a notion is on higher grounds 
untenable ; but even in view of purely secular considera- 
tions, it is not only untenable, but it is altogether unintelli- 
gible. . . . The followers of Mahomet have no knowl- 
edge of God as a Father ; still less have they knowledge of 
Him as "Our Father," the God and Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. They acknowledge, indeed, that Jesus was a 
true prophet sent of God, but they deny His crucifixion and 
death, and they know nothing of the power of the resurrec- 
tion. To those who have found redemption in these grand 
and distinctive truths of the Christian faith, it may be al- 
lowed to mourn over the lands in which the light of the 
Gospel has been quenched, and these blessings blotted out 
by the material forces of Islam. — "The Rise and Decline of 
Islam" a present-day tract by Sir William Mnir. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 335 

BARTOLME ESTERBAN MURILLO, 

Spanish Painter. (1618-1682.) 

|N the name of God, Amen: Let it be known to as 
many as this letter of testament may reach, that I, 
Bartolme Murillo, master of the art of painting, citi- 
zen of the city of Seville, in the precinct of Santa 
Cruz, being infirm in body but sound in will, and in all de- 
liberate judgment and natural understanding, full and good 
memory, such as God our Lord vouchsafed to give me, and 
believing, as I do, firmly and truly in the Divine mystery of 
the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three per- 
sons really distinct and yet one true God ... I offer and 
commit my soul to God, our Lord, who created and redeemed 
it with the infinite price of His blood, and whom I humbly 
supplicate to pardon it and bear it to peace in glory. — Page 
96, "Artist Biographers." 




FRANCIS MURPHY, 

Cc.n Temperance Reformer. 

Christ sees His face in yours, if you will but believe 
in Him; and wherever you may be, or however de- 
graded, He, the once crucified, oppressed, and bleed- 
ing, stands ready to fold you in His arms. Yea, He 
stands and knocks at the door of your heart, until His locks 
are wet with the dew of the night. 

May God give us strength and aid. This blessed moral 
reform is not a failure. The blood-stained banner of Imman- 
uel shall not be taken down from the mast of the Gospel ship. 
Wave after wave shall beat against its prow; wave after wave 
shall meet her on her course. But what care we for that! 
He who controls the ocean itself has His hand at the helm. — 
Pages 222 and 227, " The True Path; or, the Murphy Move- 
ment and Gospel Temperance" by J. Samuel Vandersloot. 



33 6 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JOHANNES VON MULLER. 

Swiss Historian. (1752-1809.) 

DO not know why, two months ago, I took it into my 
head to read the New Testament, before my studies 
had advanced to the age in which it was written. I 
had not read it for many years, and was prejudiced 
against it before I took it in hand. I have read no book on 
this subject, but hitherto in all my study of the ancient times 
I have always felt the want of something, and it was not 
until I knew our Lord that it was all clear to me ; with Him 
there is nothing which I am not able to solve. If this relig- 
ion is not Divine, I understand nothing at all. — u Sammtliche 
Werke" 15, 315, by Johannes von Midler. 




ALEXANDER MURRAY, 

Scottish Philologist. (1775-1813.) 

<ATHER gave me a small Psalm-Book, for which I 
5 _ A abandoned the Catechism, which I did not like, and 
r~"o which I tore in two pieces, and concealed in the hole 
of a dyke. I soon got many Psalms by memory, and 
longed for a new book. Here difficulties rose. The Bible, 
used every night in the family, I was not permitted to open 
or touch. The rest of the books were put up in chests. I 
at length got at a New Testament, and read the historical 
parts with great curiosity and ardor. But I longed to read 
the Bible, which seemed to me a much more pleasant Book; 
and I actually went to where I knew an old loose-leaved 
Bible lay, and carried it away by piecemeal. I perfectly 
remember the strange pleasure I felt in reading the histo- 
ries of Abraham and David. I liked mournful narratives ; 
and greatly admired Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Lamenta- 
tions. I pored over those pieces of the Bible for many 
months, and as I read constantly and remembered well, I 
soon astonished all our honest neighbors with the large pas- 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 337 

sages of Scripture I repeated before them. I have forgot 
too much of my biblical knowledge, but I can still rehearse 
all the names of the Patriarchs from Adam to our Saviour, 
and various other narratives seldom committed to memory. — 
Page 363, "Library of Entertaining Knowledge." 




LINDLEY MURRAY, 

Educator and Author. (1745-1826.) 



.HE goodness of God has freely offered to pardon all our 
sins, and receive us into favor, if we sincerely repent, 
and unfeignedly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the 
Saviour of the world. In the Revelation of His will 
to mankind, the great design, conspicuous throughout, is to 
manifest His love and compassion towards our fallen race, 
and to accomplish our salvation. The blessed Redeemer 
" came into the world to save sinners — to seek and to save 
that which was lost." And, to increase our gratitude and 
trust, He has graciously assured us that "there is joy in the 
presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repent- 
eth." These and many other passages in the Holy Script- 
tures afford an abundant source of consolation and encour- 
agement to the humble and penitent believer in Christ. — 
See introduction to "Power of Religion" by Lindley Murray, 
author of an English Grammar. 



WILLIAM MURRAY, 

Earl of Mansfield; Lord Chief-Justice of England. 
(1705-1793.) 

HENEVER it shall please Almighty God to call 
me to that state to which, of all I now enjoy, I can 
carry one, the satisfaction of my own conscience, 
and a full reliance upon His mercy through Jesus 

Christ. — A clause in his will. See "Lives of the Chief Justices 

of England" by Lord Campbell. 




338 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 





SIR ISAAC NEWTON, 

English Philosopher and Mathematician. (1642-1727.) 

.HERE is one God, the 
Father, ever-living, om- 
nipresent, omniscient, al- 
mighty, the Maker of 
heaven and earth, and one Me- 
diator between God and man, 
the man Christ Jesus. . . . 
To us there is but one God, 
the Father, of whom are all 
things, and one Lord Jesus 
Christ, by whom are all things, 
and we by Him. That is, we 
are to worship the Father 
alone as God Almighty, and 
Jesus alone as the Lord, the 
Messiah, the Great King, the Lamb of God who was slain, 
and hath redeemed us with His blood, and made us kings 
and priests. — See Sir David Brewster y s "Memoirs of the Life, 
Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton" 

The Book of Revelation exhibits to us the same peculiar- 
ities as that of Nature. . . . The history of the Fall of 
Man — of the introduction of moral and physical evil, the 
prediction of the Messiah, the actual advent of our Saviour, 
His instructions, His miracles, His death, His resurrection, 
and the subsequent propagation of His religion by the un- 
lettered fishermen of Galilee, are each a stumbling-block to 
the wisdom of this world. . . . But though the system 
of revealed truth which this Book contains is, like that of 
the universe, concealed from common observation, yet the 
labors of the centuries have established its Divine origin, 
and developed in all its order and beauty the great plan of 
human restoration. — "Life of Sir Isaac Newton," by T. H. L. 
Leary, in Volume VI of "Short Biographies of the People" 







A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 339 

JOHN NAPIER, 

Scottish Inventor of Logarithms. (1550-1617.) 

B early became a Protestant champion, and the one 
solitary anecdote that is known to exist concerning 
him occurs in his address "to the Godly and Christian 
reader," prefixed to his u Plaine Discovery"'. "Being 
attentive to the sermons of that worthie Man of God, Maister 
Christopher Goodman, teaching upon the Apocalyps, I was 
so moved in admiration, against the blindness of Papists, that 
could not most evidently see their seven-hilled citie Rome, 
painted out there so lively by Saint John as the mother of 
all spiritual whoredom, that not onely bursted I out in con- 
tinual reasoning against my said familiar, but also from 
henceforth, I determined with my selfe (by the assistance of 
God's Spirit) to employ my studie and diligence to research 
out the remanet mysteries of that Holy Book, as to this 
houre (praise be the Lorde) I have bin doing at all such 
times as conveniently I might have occasion." — Page 177, 
Volume XVII, "The Encyclopaedia Britannic a" 




CHARLES NORDHOFF, 

Journalist and Author. 

^HE Bible "whitewashes nobody." 

When you hear a person speak slightingly or con- 
temptuously of the Bible, you may safely set him 
down as an ignoramus. 
Jesus "did many wonders and miracles," and He made as 
little of them as God does of the daily miracle of a man's life, 
or of the constantly recurring miracle of the sun's rising. 

Jesus "brought life and immortality to light." . . . 
The more you study His life and His words, the more clearly 
you will see that both are based on the theory that our souls 
are immortal. 



or 



A CLOUD OF WITNKSSKS. 



1 ndrpendeiil 1\ , I heieloi e, t >l theii SU pieine im portanee and 

authority, these (iospcls deserve youi attention, your careful 
and intelligent study, as the biographical records of the most 
extraordinarj Personage oi whom histors makes mention, 
having no party in the Stateoj in the Church; 
neithei seeking noi making friends 01 supporters among the 
powerful 01 wealthy; and put to death on .1 criminal charge 
long before He had reached middle life; yet by rlis life, His 
doctrines, and His death more profoundly and permanently 
affected human thought and human societj than all the 
conquerors and philosophers who evei lived. Extracts from 
"God and the Future Lt .,".'•!■( harles Nordhoff* 



JOHN NKAL. 

Author. |r;o.i 1876. 1 

\1pJ.\l> I not been HMiion.sti.itcd with by a devout and 
Vl luunble Christian mother, I might never have aban- 
ev ,' iloned the habit of cursing and swearing; never have 
gone twice on Sunday to Church, and nevei have be- 
come what 1 proiess to be now a lollowei ol the meek and 
lowly Jesus. P&ge i i v ; of "Wandering Recollections of a 
S mctvhat Busy Life" 



nil-: right iionorabu: thk i:ari. of 

NORTHBROOK. 

Late Viceroy anil Governor-General ol liulia 

aO-P \Y we have not to eonsidei any political ques- 
tion, but what we Christian men and women have 

M' been able to do in that couutrv to spread the (iospel 
of Christ anions the fellow subjects oi our Oueen. 

1 should not be doing justice If I did not remind all 
those present that missionaries in India have always derived 
the most active aid from some of the ablest a\k\ most dis- 




CHRIST AND THE STATE. 



SHOW me the tribute-money, And they brought unto Him a penny. And He 
saith unto them, Whose is this image, and supei cription? They say unto 
Him, Caesar's. Then saith He unto them, Rendei therefore unto Caesai the things 
win. li are Caesar's; and unto God the things thai are ( iod's. Matthew xxu, 19 21. 
Aside from the supernatural claims oi oui Saviour, He must be regarded a the 
l "Hi ! ; of free republican self-government, and the chiel factoi in the development 
"I modern 1 ivili/;ition John J. In-, alls. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 341 

tinguished men in the service of the East India Company, and 
of the Crown of India, both civilian and military. Among 
civilians what greater name is there than that of John Law- 
rence, who always, during the whole of his life, supported 
missionaries on every opportunity ! He was succeeded in 
the government of the Punjab by Sir Robert Montgomery, 
an active supporter of missions. After him came Sir Donald 
McLeod, a man who, on all occasions, showed his sympathy 
with missionary undertakings. You all know that Sir 
William Muir, when Governor of the Northwestern Pro- 
vinces, openly showed his support of Christian Missions; 
and Sir Charles Aitcheson, who occupied the post of Lieu- 
tenant General of the Punjab, and who is now one of the 
members of the Viceroy's Council, has always been vitally 
interested in missions. Then there are Sir Richard Temple, 
Sir Richard Thompson, Sir Charles Bernard, Henry C. 
Tucker, and others. Then there is the almost equally distin- 
guished brother of Lord Lawrence, Henry Lawrence; then 
there were Herbert Bdwardes, Reynell Taylor, Henry Have- 
lock, and, in fact nearly all the men who came for?vard at the 
time of the Mutiny, and through whose exertions the British 
Empire in India was preserved. NOT ONE OF THEM 
SHRANK UPON ANY OCCASION FROM SUPPORT- 
ING THE CAUSE OF MISSIONS IN INDIA. I say 
this for two reasons. I say it, first, because you are told that 
these Missionary Societies are nonsense supported by a pack 
of old women getting together ; then you may point to these 
men, the best statesmen and the best soldiers of India, 
who have by their lives, and on every occasion in which 
they could, supported mission work. And I say it, besides, 
because I wish to point out that these men are the men in 
whom more than in any others the natives of India, whether 

Christians or not, had the greatest confidence 

Did any of you read the telegram in the Times the other 
day? Of all men I ever knew Sir Charles Aitcheson is the 
most careful and accurate, and he said at a meeting at Simla 
(and this is an instance to show how men in India in high 



342 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

places do not shrink from going to missionary meetings), he 
said on June 13, ''Christianity is advancing five per cent, 
faster than the growth of the population, and is making 
greater progress than at any time since the Apostolic days." 
— Pages 189 and 190, Volume I, "Report of the Missionary 
Conference" London, 1888. 




CYRUS NORTHROP. 

President of the University of Minnesota. 

HRIST and the Bible are both revelations of God. 

' Both are the Word of God. The Bible is the Guide- 
book to Heaven, showing us the way. Christ is the 
Way. No man cometli unto the Father but bv Him. 



^finfffcld-^i 



<9 



L 




I have spoken to you to-day of One whose life was per- 
fect. If you follow Him you can make no mistakes. But it 
is not enough to live according to the law of unselfishness by 
which Jesus lived. He must be to you more than an exam- 
ple. He is your Saviour, if you will accept Him. He is your 
King, if you will own Him. He is your Judge, whether y<Si 
choose Him or not. The life which you are to lead, you 
should lead by faith in the Son of God. It is not only 
right that you have faith in Christ ; it is wrong not to have 
such faith. While, then, I wish you all the fullest prosperity 
in life compatible with your highest interests, I desire for 
you most of all, that you may so live that when your life is 
ended you may be able to say of your work, as truly Jesus 
said of his, kl It is finished," and u so entrance shall be min- 
istered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom 
of our Lord and Saviour Jesns Christ." — Closing Words to 
Graduating Class, May 22, 1887. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 343 

ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLAEGAR, 

Danish Poet. ( 1779-1850.) 



ASPIRATIONS. 

'ROM Thy throne in the clouds, Thou, Lord, smilest to me. 

My Christ, my loved Jesus, Thou mighty to save, 
Oh ! help me to conquer all sorrow like Thee. 

Hope's green banner, Redeemer, victorious wave ; 
How bitter thy Cross amid Calvary's gloom ! 
Thy triumph how wondrous, how grand, o'er the tomb. 



SIR JOHN OLDCASTLE, 

(LORD COBHAM.) 

English Reformer. (1360-1417.) 

HE Knighthood ought to defend the pure Word of 
God, and oppose the introduction or execution of any 
measures calculated to destroy its purity. 

I believe that all is true which is contained in the 
Holy Scriptures of the Bible. Finally, I believe all that my 
Lord God would that I should believe. 

I profess full belief in the body and blood of Christ ; that 
God will ask no more of a Christian believer, in this life, 
than to obey the precepts of this most blessed law. — Pages 
490 ##a?494, " Cross and Crown" by James D. McCabe. 





MARK OLDROYD, 

Member of Parliament. 



OD seems to be saying with increased emphasis: "Go 
forward!" Counterfeits and caricatures of Chris- 
tianity were, fortunately, being played out, but the real 
Christianity had never exercised so much power over 
the consciences and lives of men as during this last decade of 



u 



344 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

the nineteenth century, and it must go on and triumph. 
What was wanted was a deepening consciousness of the love 
of Christ to them, that there should not be simply conscience 
rousing them, but the heart with all its affections stimulating 
them in His service, so that they might be able to say: 
"The love of Christ constraineth us." — From his speech on 
taking the Chair at the annual meeting of the London Mis- 
sionary Society, May, 1893. 



EDWARD OLNEY, 

Professor of Mathematics University of Michigan, from 1863 till 

Death ; Author of a Complete Set of Mathematical 

Text-Books. ( 1827-1887.) 

^T makes a vast difference what one thinks of Christ, 
while man is a sinner, and He the only Saviour. I have 
come to have very little confidence in that man's hon- 
esty who professes to be satisfied with that which he 
is able to attain in his own unaided strength, or who does 
not feel the need of superhuman help. What mean the altar 
fires that blaze on every shore, and back along the line of 
the centuries? They are man's confession that he is a sin- 
ner, but thanks be unto God, the blood of Jesus Christ 
cleanseth from all sin. 

Creation is God's work. Its time, methods, and character 
are the subjects of His will alone. Man may not hope to 
find them out. What he knows concerning them, God must 
reveal. Though the torch of Science blaze ever so brightly, 
the darkness which envelopes primal causes remains impen- 
etrable by its light. The Word of God, properly interpreted, 
and His works rightly studied, can not be at variance. The 
plan of reconciliation may, or may not have been discovered, 
but it really exists. Let us then have the fullest confidence 
in the Divine authenticity of the Bible. L,et us court the 
light ; the gem will but flash the more brightly in its flood. 
Yes, from the varied realms of History, Science, and Philol- 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 345 

ogy let light be poured in upon the sacred page ; concentrate, 
focalize it ; let it flame and glare ; the most vulture-eyed infi- 
delity shall find no plague spot there. 




LAWRENCE OLIPHANT, 

English Author and Traveler. (1829-1888.) 

AM a thorough Christian so far as my reverence for 
and belief in every moral principle Christ has pro- 
pounded is concerned ; but I am utterly opposed to 
the popular developments of Christianity ; indeed, I 
think it quite inconsistent with His teachings. 

The Bible is a very different thing from the popular re- 
ceived traditionary interpretation of it which rests on human 
reason. I quite believe in its inspiration, but in a particular 
way. Now, according to my view, the minds of Christ and 
His disciples were in a state of almost spiritual repose. They 
reflected more accurately than was ever done before or since 
the mind of God ; that is, the apostles caught their repose 
from the mind of Christ. — " Memoir of Lawrence Oliphant" 
by Margaret Oliphant IV. Oliphant. 



B. S. OSBON, 

Rear Admiral, Commanding National Association Naval 
Veterans. 

HRIST is all in all, and for all, the Bible our Chart. 
I have yet, in this earthly cruise of three score years, 
to find a sailor who did not believe in God and the 
Holy Scriptures. 
x\rticle III, Section 1, of the Constitution of Naval Vet- 




346 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

erans of the United States of America, reads: "We acknowl- 
edge a firm belief, accountability, and trust in Almighty 
God." These words tell the whole story of the sailor's be- 
lief in Christianity and its inspired Book. 

Individually, I have leaned upon the strong arm of faith 
in my Redeemer through nearly fifty battles, and by His 
Divine mercy have been spared to write these lines. I pray 
for His wisdom and strength to guide me aright in com- 
manding those who come under my official jurisdiction. 
Without the Saviour and the Word of God, life would in- 
deed be a barren waste. 





JOHANN FRIEDRICH OVERBECK, 

German Painter; Reviver and Leader of "Christian Art" 
in the Nineteenth Century. (1789-1869.) 

WILL/ abide by the Bible; I elect it as my standing- 
point. . . . Art to me is as the harp of David, 
whereupon I would desire that psalms should at all 
times be sounded to the praise of the Lord. — Page 
77, Volume XVIII, "The Encyclopedia Britannic a." 

Let not my Saviour be ever robbed of my love ; the true 
home of art is within the soul ; the tabernacle of art has its 
foundation in the worship of God. . . . Lamentation 
over the death of the Son of God may arouse in the spec- 
tator true faith and repentance. May this painting, begun 
in tears for my own and only son, and finished in grief for 
the loss of my dear brother, draw tears from the eyes of Him, 
who not only shed tears, but blood, in order that His death 
might be our life. Such aim have I in my art, without 
which it would seem idle, indeed blasphemous. — Pages 33 
and J J, "Overbeck" by J. B. Atkinson. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 347 

AXEL OXENSTIERN, 

Chancellor of Sweden. (1583-1654.) 

HAVE seen much, and enjoyed much, of this world ; 
but I never knew how to live till now. I thank my 
God, who has given me time to know Him, and to 
know myself. All the comfort I have, and which is 
more than the whole world can give, is feeling the Spirit of 
God, and reading in this good Book that came from it. You 
are now in the prime of your age and vigor, and in great 
favor and business ; but all this will leave you, and you will 
one day understand and relish what I say. You will then 
find that there is more wisdom, true comfort, and pleasure, 
in retiring, and in turning your heart from the world to the 
good Spirit of God, and in reading the Bible, than in all the 
courts and favors of princes. — Page 119 of "The Power of 
Religion," by Lindley Murray. 




DAVID PERKINS PAGE, 

The First Principal of New York State Normal School. 
(1810-1848.) 

>HE faithful teacher enjoys the approval of Heaven. 
He is employed, if he has the right spirit, in a Heav- 
enly Father's business — that man should be made 
wiser and happier. To this end, the Son of God, 
the Great Teacher, came to bless our race; so far as the 
schoolmaster has the spirit of Jesus, he is engaged in the 
same great work. 

Very justly, we attribute our superiority as a people over 
those who dwell in the darker portions of the world, to our 
purer faith, derived from that precious fountain of truth, the 
Bible. In our public schools, supported at the public ex- 
pense, and in which the children of all denominations meet 
for instruction, I do not think that any man has a right to 
crowd his own peculiar notions of theology upon all, whether 



348 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

they are acceptable or not. Yet there is a common gronnd 
which he can occupy. He can teach a reverence for the Su- 
preme Being, a reverence for the Word of God, for the influ- 
ence of His Spirit, for the character and teachings of our 
Saviour, and for the momentous concerns of eternity. He 
can teach the duty of repentance, and the privileges of for- 
giveness, and the salvation by His Son. — Pages 401 and 51 
of "Theory and Practice of Teaching" by David Perkins 
Page. 

EDWARD HENRY PALMER, 

English Egyptologist, and Lord Almoner's Professor of Arabic. 
(1840- 1882.) 

HE Tih, though crossed by the Hajj, or Pilgrim, 
route to Mecca, and frequently traversed by the per- 
sons who prefer to approach Palestine by the "Long 
Desert," has been but very imperfectly described, and 
never systematically explained, while the whole of the moun- 
tain district was absolutely unknown. And yet this country 
is of the highest interest to the Biblical students, for across 
that white, unpromising waste lay the road down into Egypt, 
on which Jacob traveled to visit his long-lost son, and along 
the same way the Virgin Mother fled with her Divine Child. 
Here, as the name still reminds us, the children of Israel 
wandered ; and the hilly plateau on the northeast was the 
home and pasture of the Patriarch. — Page 285, Volume II, 
"The Desert of the Exodus" by E. H. Palmer. 




THOMAS WITHERELL PALMER, 

President of World's Columbian Commission. 

<0 me our Lord is the tenderest, the most lovable, the 

most heroic Personage in history. In His character 

J>C>C are united the highest philosophy and the purest 

faith, justice, and mercy, exalted spirituality with 

sympathy for the most degraded. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 349 

I do not stop to inquire whether He is " very God of very 
God." His teachings are Divine, and I accept Him as "God 
made manifest in the flesh." For two thousand years that 
luminous Form seen subjectively or objectively, it makes no 
difference which, has raised up the down-trodden, curbed 
the mighty, restored the wandering, led back the erring, 
wept with the mourners, consoled the afflicted, soothed the 
sufferer, fed the hungry, clothed the naked, given water to 
those who were athirst, and is to-day the anchor to the souls 
of millions. 

The most attractive parts of the Old Testament to me are 
the Psalms, particularly the triumphant ones, such as the 
Twenty-third, the Book of Job, and the Twelfth Chapter of 
Ecclesiastes. In my opinion the sum of all religion is con- 
tained in our Saviour's answer to the lawyer (Matthew xxii. 
37-39, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is 
the first and great commandment. And the second is like 
unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." This, 
w T ith the Sermon on the Mount, are the bases of all exalted 
character conjoined w T ith the promises promotive of its main- 
tenance. 




FRANCIS TURNER PALGRAVE, 

English Art Critic. 




STAR OF MORN AND EVEN. 

2^ TAR of morn and even, 
Sun of Heaven's heaven, 
Saviour, high and dear, 
Toward us turn thine ear ; 
Through whate'er may come. 
Thou canst lead us home. 



350 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

Saviour, pure and holy, 
Lover of the lowly, 

Sign us with Thy sign. 

Take our hands in Thine ; 

Take our hands and come. 

Lead Thy children home. 

Star of morn and even, 
Shine on us from Heaven ; 
From Thy glory-throne, 
Hear Thy very own ! 
Lord and Saviour, come, 
Lead us to our home ! 




MUNGO PARK, 

Scottish Explorer in Africa. ( 1771-1806.) 

vHE man whose soul has been enlightened by his 
Creator, and enabled, though dimly, to discern the 
wonders of salvation, will look upon the joys and 
afflictions of this life as equally the token of Divine 
love. He will walk through the world as one traveling to 
a better country, looking forward with wonder to the Author 
and Finisher of his faith. 

I have now reached that height that I can now behold the 
tumult of nations with indifference, confident that the reins 
of events are in the Father's hands. May you and I (not 
like the stubborn mule, but like the weaning child) obey His 
hand, that after all the troubles of this dark world in which we 
are truly strangers, we may through the wonders of atonement 
reach a far greater and exceeding weight of glory. . . . 
May the Holy Spirit dwell forever in your heart, and if I 
never see my native land again, may I rather see the green 
sod on your grave than see you anything but a Christian. — 
Pages 43 and 44, "Mimgo Park and the Niger ^ by Joseph 
Thompson. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 351 

SIR JAMES A. PARK, 

English Lawyer and Judge (1763-1838.) 

E live in the midst of blessings till we are utterly 
insensible of their greatness, and of the source 
from whence they flow. We speak of our civil- 
ization, our arts, our freedom, our laws, and for- 
get entirely how large a share is due to Christianity. Blot 
Christianity out of the pages of man's history, and what 
would his laws have been, what his civilization ? Christian- 
ity is mixed up with our very being and our daily life ; there 
is not a familiar object around us which does not wear a dif- 
ferent aspect because the light of Christian love is on it ; not 
a law which does not owe its truth and gentleness to Chris- 
tianity; not a custom which can not be traced in all its holy, 
healthful parts to the Gospel. — Page 3, " Allibontf s Prose 
Quotations" 




WILLIAM KITCHEN PARKER, 

Late Hunterian Professor at the Royal College of 
Surgeons. 

HEN, as a tall farmer's son, I left home to study 
science, I said, "I am going to serve God," and I 
gave myself to the Eord in prayer. The lady 
where I went said : " William, read your Bible 
once every day." William did; but he does not read the 
Bible only once a day, now. After fifty years I am not likely 
to lose sight of Christ. . . . " Christ in me the hope of 
glory ! What a little thing is science to put against that ! It 
is merely the ends, shreds, patches, and rays of knowledge. 
The more child-like we are in science, as well as religion, 
the better it will be. Science, in geology and biology, does 
not touch the Scriptures in the least. It does not affect the 
belief of any godly man who studies it. — Page 45, "Report of 
the Christian Evidence Society, London. 




52 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

SIR WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY, 

English Rear Admiral and Arctic Navigator. (1790-1855.) 

CAN only say that in Christ and Him crucified is all 
my salvation and all my desire. 

I began to read the New Testament every evening 
from June 3, 1824. " The entrance of Thy Word 
giveth light." 

My speech at the Bible Society has been talked of 
sneeringly at this great house, but oh ! how insignificant does 
all within these walls appear when the imagination turns for 
a moment to the assembled hosts of Heaven, and men, and 
angels ! Pray for me that I may be encouraged and sup- 
ported by the Holy Spirit, in every humble endeavor to ad- 
vance his glory and the salvation of men's souls. — See Vol- 
ume VII, "Short Biographies for the People" 




BLAISE PASCAL, 

French Philosopher and Mathematician. 
(1623-1662.) 

E know God only through Jesus Christ. Without 
this Mediator, is taken away all communication 
with God ; through Jesus Christ we know God. 
All those who have pretended to know God, and 
prove Him without Jesus Christ, have only had impotent 
proofs. But, to prove Jesus Christ we have the prophecies 
which are good and valid proofs. And those prophecies, be- 
ing fulfilled, and truly proved by the event, indicate the cer- 
tainty of these truths, and therefore the truth of the divinity 
of Jesus Christ. In Him, and by Him, then, we know God. 
Otherwise, and without Scripture, without original sin, with- 
out a necessary Mediator, we can not absolutely prove God, 
nor teach a good doctrine and sound morals. But by Jesus 
Christ and in' Jesus Christ, we prove God and teach doctrine 
and morals. Jesus Christ, then, is the true God of men. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 353 

Not only do we know God only through Jesus Christ, but we 
know ourselves only through Jesus Christ. We know life, 
death, only through Jesus Christ. Except by Jesus Christ 
we know not what life is, what our death is, what God is, 
what we ourselves are. Thus, without Scripture, which has 
only Jesus Christ for its object, we know nothing, and we see 
not only obscurity and confusion in the nature of God, and 
in nature herself. Without Jesus Christ, man must be in sin 
and misery ; with Jesus Christ, man is exempt from sin and 
misery. In Him is all our virtue, and all our felicity. Out 
of Him, there is nothing but sin, misery, error, darkness, 
death, and despair. — Pages 334 and 335, " Thoughts, Letters, 
and Opuscules " of Blaise Pascal. Translated from the French 
by O. W. Wight. 




WILLIAM HAROLD PAYNE, 

Chancellor of the University of Nashville. 

^URELY, in further illustration of the fact that the 
world's greatest teachers have been inspired by a love 
for ignorant and suffering humanity, I need not dwell 
at length on the story of the Nazarene peasant, the 
carpenter's son, who, by His sufferings and services, has 
become exalted over every other name in the annals of time. 
But have we sufficiently reflected on the fact that Jesus owes 
His awful preeminence among reformers to His perfect con- 
descension to men of low estate, to his frank companionship 
with publicans and sinners, to His holy ministration to the 
disinherited of the world? In all that marvelous life there 
is nothing more significant or more touching than the fact 
that ignorance, weakness, and sin, instead of repelling Christ 
from men, drew Him into closer sympathy with them. We 
may also say that He loved men because they were sinful and 
vile. The first quality in this ministration was an infinite 
pity for the lowly sufferers of this world ; and His purpose 
was to plant in each human soul an inspiring and protecting 



354 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



hope for a better and happier hereafter. — Pages 242 and 243, 
"Contributions to the Science of Education" by W. H.Payne, 
President of the University of Nashville. 





SIR ROBERT PEELE, 

English Statesman; Twice Prime Minister. (1788-1850.) 



H ETHER the 
system of public 
education be re- 
ligious or not, the 
necessity of giving access to 
the Word of God remains 
the same. The object of 
the Bible Society is to cir- 
culate the Word of God in 
the most remote regions. . 
It may be that the 
present is that occasion 
when the knowledge of Divine truth is to be conveyed 
through those missionaries, if they had the means of distrib- 
uting the Word of God. This may be the special occasion 
upon which millions and hundreds of millions may be con- 
verted from heathenism to the knowledge of the Word of 
God, which will make them wise unto salvation. — Passages 
from his Address at a Bible Meeting, Tamworth, England, 
1827. 

This is taken from one of his prayers: " Great and mer- 
ciful God, Ruler of all nations, help me daily to repair to 
Thee for wisdom and grace suitable to the high office where- 
to Thy providence has called me. ... As for me, Thy 
servant, grant, O merciful God, that I may not be so en- 
grossed with public anxieties as that Thy Word should be- 
come unfruitful in me, or be so moved by difficulty or oppo- 
sition as not to pursue the narrow way which leadeth me to 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 355 

life. And, O most gracious Father, if, notwithstanding my 
present desires and purposes, I should forget Thee, do not 
Thou forget me, seeing that I entreat Thy constant remem- 
brance and favor only for the sake of our most blessed Advo- 
cate and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, to whom with Thee and 
the Holy Spirit be glory forever. Amen. — Page 454, "Other 
Men's Minds." 

WILLIAM PENN, 

Founder of Pennsylvania. (1644-1718.) 

?S I have been traveling, the great work of Christ in 
cj\. the earth has often been presented to my view, and 
the day of the Lord hath been deeply impressed 
upon me, and my soul and spirit hath frequently 
been possessed with an holy and weighty concern for the 
glory and name of the Lord and the spreading of his ever- 
lasting truth. — See his " Travels in Holland and Germany." 

Read my "No Cross, No Crown." There is instruction. 
Make your conversation with the most eminent for wisdom 
and piety, and shun all wicked men as you hope for the 
blessing of God and the comfort of your father's living and 
dying prayers. Be sure you speak evil of none, not of the 
meanest, much less of your superiors as magistrates, guard- 
ians, teachers, and elders in Christ. — Page 12, Volume III, 
4 ' Chambers' Cyclopedia of English Literature, ' ' Acme Edition. 

I do declare to the whole world that we believe the Scrip- 
tures to contain a declaration of the mind and will of God in 
and to those ages in which they were written; being given 
forth by the Holy Ghost moving in the hearts of holy men of 
God; that they ought also to be read, believed, and fulfilled in 
our day; being used for reproof and instruction, that the man 
of God may be perfect. They are a declaration and testi- 
mony of heavenly things themselves, and, as such, we carry 
an high respect for them. We accept them as the words of 
God Himself. — "Treatise on the Religion of the Quakers" 
by William Penn. 




35^ A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

SIR A. PEASE, 

Member of Parliament. 

E can confidently recommend them to the Book in 
whose interests we meet to-day, and can point 
them to that Book from the beginning to the end, 
and to Him who gave Himself for man's salvation. 
I feel in meeting the difficulties of the present day, we can 
take no better course than point them to the Holy Scriptures, 
and encourage the masses of people to study the Bible for 
themselves, and see whether these things are so, and tell 
them that in its study the}' will find that which does not lead 
them to their thralldom, but to their emancipation. . . . 
If we find these people who do not hold the Christian faith 
in the simplicity with which we hold it, and that there are 
few living voices, comparatively, to go forth among them and 
proclaim the truth as it is in the L,ord Jesus Christ, how thank- 
ful we ought to be that there are those who can travel through 
the villages of France, and other parts of the continent, circu- 
lating the Word which is able to make them wise unto salva- 
tion. We must be grateful that, even without the spoken 
voice, God's Word does not return unto Him void. — Bible 
Society (London) Monthly Reporter, June, 1884. 



JOHANN HEINRICH PESTALOZZI, 

Swiss Educational Reformer. (1746-1827.) 

,HE whole Bible is a collection of the revelation of God. 
Let no one say that Jesus did not love the wicked, 
the evil doers ! He loved them with a Divine love- 
He died for them. 
I see myself lying in the grave ; I see myself entering into 
eternity. But I awake ! I have seen my destiny. It is not 
the transitory work of this earthly life ; it is the power of 
devotion of a faithful life to the service of God and humanity ; 





JESUS AND HIS MOTHER. 



HE saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy Son! Then saith He to the 
disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto 
his own home. — John xix, 26-27. 

Even He that died for us upon the Cross, in the last hour, in the unutterable 
agony of death, was mindful of His mother, as if to teach us that this holy love 
should be our last worldly thought. — Longfellow. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 357 

it is the imitation of Jesus Christ, through faith in Him cru- 
cified, and for the glory of God, the Father. — Pages 403 and 
404, and Appendix of u Pestalozzi, his Life and Work" by 
Roger De Gruimps, International Educational Series. 



SIR WILLIAM PETTY, 

English Political Economist. (1623-1687.) 

^y/V^S for religion, I die in the profession of that faith and 
\£c\_ in the practice of such worship as I find established 
qj (?ho by the law of my country, and expressing my love 
and honor to Almighty God for such signs and 
tokens as are understood to be such by the people with whom 
I live, God knowing my heart ; and thus begging the Divine 
Majesty to make me what He would have me to be, both as 
to faith and good works, I willingly resign my soul into His 
hands, relying only on His infinite mercy and the merits of 
my Saviour for my happiness after this life ; where I expect 
to know and see God more clearly than by the study of the 
Scriptures and of His works I have hitherto been able to do. 
- -Pages 284 and 285, Volume IV, of '" British Plutarch" 



FRIEDRICH PFAFF, 

Professor of Natural Science, University of Erlangen, 
Bavaria. 

^HE conclusion we are lead to is, that the Scriptural 
account of man, which is one and self-consistent, is 
true; that God made man in His own image, fitted 
for fellowship with Himself, and favored with it ; in 
a state from which man has fallen, but to which restoration 
is possible through Him who is the brightness of the Father's 
glory, and the express image of His person. This account 
of man we accept by faith, because it is revealed by God, is 
supported by adequate evidence, solves the otherwise in- 




35§ A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

soluble problems, not only of science and history, but of in- 
ward experience, and meets our deepest need. We believe 
there was a first man, from whom all other men are de- 
scended, who was the first head of the human race; that 
there is a second Man in whom God is incarnate, who is the 
source of undying hope to all who become united to Him. 
Where science forsakes us, Revelation meets us with an ac- 
count of man's origin, state, and destiny, which is adequate 
and coherent, which explains all the facts, and commends 
itself alike to reason and the conscience ; and the more it is 
sifted and examined, the more well-founded and irrefragable 
does it prove to be. — Extract from " The Age and Origin of 
Man, Geologically Considered" Present-Day Tract, No. 13. 




SIR ROBERT PHAYRE, 

English Major-General. 

v>S the Word of God carries power and light with it, 
I pray heartily that it may prevail more and more, 
and have a fuller and freer entrance to those places 
which the Lord has opened to us. . . . Not 
long since I received from a native Christian gentleman of 
my acquaintance a letter in which he told me how, in that 
very country, where oppression of the worst kind prevailed 
amongst women, the present ruler, a most enlightened and 
educated prince, sent to him and his wife, asking them to 
preach the Gospel to them in their court. Now I mention 
this to show what results the Lord brings about when He 
opens the way according to His Word. "All power is given 
unto Me in heaven and in earth ; and lo ! I am with you al- 
way." We learn from this that there is no amount of op- 
pression, that there is no amount of hindrance that Satan 
may oppose to the progress of the Gospel that can not be 
removed by believing prayer and pleading the promises of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. — Page 141, Volume If of "Report of 
the Missionary Conference" London, 1888. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 359 

JOHN FINIS PHILIPS, 

Judge in United States District Courts. 

BELIEVE the Bible to be the work of inspired men, 
and the revelation of God's will towards man. Its 
wisdom, moral maxims, and wholesome truths, its 
original jurisprudence, its poetry and eloquence, have 
impassioned and governed the intellect and heart of the 
wisest, greatest, and best of mankind in all ages and under 
all civilizations. 

I believe Christ to be more than human. It is not in 
human power to have revolutionized society and state as did 
Jesus of Nazareth. His spirit overawes and His will con- 
founds as never any other mortal man. Between Him and 
all others there is no conceivable, apt term of comparison. 
He had no model, and there is no example for Him among 
men. He taught neither philosophy nor science: yet the 
learned of mankind, in the ages since He taught, have paid 
Him homage and owned Him as Lord and Master. Pie was 
Divine, the Son of God, the Saviour of men. 




^,^u^6j^, 



SIR. WILLIAM PHIPPS, 

Governor of Massachusetts. (1651-1695.) 

HAVE divers times been in danger of my life ; and I 
have been brought to see that I owe my life to Him 
<2J who has given His precious life for me. I thank 
God He has led me to see myself altogether un- 
happy without an interest in the Lord Jesus Christ, and to 
close heartily with Him, desiring Him to execute all His 
offices on my behalf. I have now, for some time, been under 
serious resolution, that I should avoid whatever I knew to be 



360 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

displeasing to God, that I should serve Him all the days of 
my life. ... I knew that if God had a people any- 
where, it was here, and I resolved to rise or fall with them ; 
neglecting very great advantages for my worldly interests, 
that I might come and enjoy the ordinances of the Lord 
Jesus here. — Pages 240 and 241 in "Lives of the Great 
Fathers of New England" 




WENDELL PHILLIPS, 

Orator and Reformer. (1811-1884.) 



HRISTIANITY is a great moral power, the deter- 
mining force of our present civilization, as of past 
steps in the same direction. Jesus is the great reli- 
gious genius who has given its peculiar type to the 
moral world. Speculations as to the why and the how may 
differ, but we see the facts. We can not rub out history. The 
battle of human rights was fiercely fought out on a Christian 
plane. Unbelief has written books, but it has never lifted 
a million men into a united struggle. The power that urged 
the world forward came from Christianity. ... I look at 
its results, and they lead to the same conclusion. He (the 
previous speaker) claims to be a Christian. So do I! The 
best part of Europe may be traced to Christianity. . . . 
The religious literature of Asia has been compared with the 
Christian Scriptures. The comparison is not just. That 
literature has many merits, and contains scattered sayings 
and precepts of excellency ; but there are heaps of chaff in 
that and in the writings of the early Christian fathers; none 
in the Gospels and Epistles. — "Life and Times of Wendell 
Phillips" by George Lowell Austin. 

Is Christianity an inspired faith or not? Shakespeare and 
Plato tower above the intellectual level of their time like the 
peaks of Teneriffe and Mont Blanc. We look at them and 
it seems impossible to measure the interval that separates 
them from the intellectual development around them. But if 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 361 

this Jewish Boy in that era of the world, in Palestine, with 
the Ganges on one side of Him and the Olympns of Athens 
on the other, ever produced this religion with its character- 
istic elements, He towers so far above Shakespeare and Plato, 
that the difference between Shakespeare and Plato and their 
times, become an imperceptible wrinkle on the surface of 
the earth. I think it a greater credulity to believe that if 
ever was a man so much superior to Athens, and to England, 
as this Jewish youth was, if He were a mere man, than it is 
to believe that in the fullness of time a higher wisdom than 
was ever vouchsafed to a human being undertook to tell the 
the human race the secret by which it could lift itself to a 
higher plane of moral and intellectual existence. — From his 
oration, " Christianity a Battle, not a Dream" 



FRANKLIN PIERCE, 

Fourteenth President of the United States. 
( 1804-1869.) 

ECOGNIZING the wisdom of the broad principles 
of absolute religious toleration proclaimed in our 
fundamental law, and rejoicing in the benign in- 
fluence which it has exerted upon our social and 
political condition, I should shrink from a clear duty if I 
failed to express my deepest conviction that we can place no 
secure reliance upon any apparent progress if it be not sus- 
tained by national integrity, resting upon the great truths 
affirmed and illustrated by Divine Revelation. — From his 
Inaugural Address of March 4, 1853. 





ALFRED PLEASONTON, 

Major-General in the Civil War. 

INCLOSE the Emperor Napoleon's views of Christ; 
they are mine also. 



^/'Z^ a^/ u^cyC^y^^^ 



362 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

This is a copy of the inclosure : "I know men," said 
Napoleon at St. Helena to Connt de Motholon, " I know men, 
and I tell yon that Jesns is not a man! The religion of 
Christ is a mystery which subsists by its own force, and pro- 
ceeds from a mind which is not a human mind. We find in it 
a marked individuality, which originated a train of words and 
actions unknown before. Jesus is not a philosopher, for His 
proofs are miracles, and from the first His disciples adored 
Him. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded 
empires ; but upon what foundation did we rest the creations 
of our genius ? Upon force ! But Jesus Christ founded His 
upon love ; and at this hour millions of men would die for 
Him." 



ALEXANDER POPE, 

English Poet. (1688-1744.) 




THE MESSIAH. 

ARK ! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers. 
Prepare the way! a God, a God appears ! 
A God, a God ! the vocal hills reply ; 
The rocks proclaim the approaching Deity. 
Lo ! earth receives Him from the bending skies ! 
Sink down, ye mountains ; and ye valleys, rise ; 
With heads declining, ye cedars, homage pay ; 
Be smooth, ye rocks ; ye rapid floods, give way ; 
The Saviour comes ! by ancient bards foretold ; 
Hear Him, ye deaf, and all ye blind, behold ! 

No more the rising sun shall gild the morn, 
Nor evening Cynthia fill her silver horn ; 
But lost, dissolved in thy superior rays, 
One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze 
O'erflow thy courts ; the Light Himself shall shine 
Revealed, and God's eternal day be thine ! 
The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay, 
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away; 
But fixed His Word, His saving power remains ; 
Thy realm shall last, thy own MESSIAH reigns. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



363 



WILLIAM PITT, 




English Statesman and Orator. ^1759-1806.) 

E was the second son 

-jJ?JL of the Earl of Chat- 

; 2^ ham, and not only 
imitated his father's 
intellectual and political 
worth, but his religious 
character as well. At differ- 
ent times in his great 
speeches he was wont to 
speak in the loftiest strain 
of the Christian religion, 
and to quote freely from the 
Word of God, but all that he 
may have said in his life- 
time is as nothing compared to the sublime climax in the 
hour of his dissolution. It was on the 23d of January, 1806, 
that he died, and clasping his hands he uttered these words, 
rising as he spoke, "I throw myself entirely" — laying strong 
emphasis upon the word — "upon the mercy of God, through 
the merits of Christ.' '—Page 543, " Worthies of the World." 





Divine 

formed, 

author 



DAVID DIXON PORTER, 

Admiral in United States Navy. 
(1813-1891.; 

HEX one sees how much has been done for the 
world by the disciples of Christ and those profes- 
sing the Christian religion, he must be astonished 
to find anyone who hesitates to believe in the 
origin of Jesus and the wonderful works He per- 
all of which are so beautifully portrayed by the 
of the work under consideration; and no man or 



3 6 4 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



woman of real intelligence would hesitate to believe that it 
is only through Christ that sinners can be saved, unless their 
vanity is so great that they think they are capable of saving 
themselves without an intermediary. 

My authority for the above has been lost among the mass 
of papers used in the preparation of this work. — 5". A. N. 



JAMES KNOX POLK, 

Eleventh President of the United States. (1795-1849.) 



!N his last sickness 
he expressed his 
sense of unworthi- 
ness before God, 
together with painful ap- 
prehension that he had 
long delayed to seek the 
Divine favor and to de- 
vote himself to the serv- 
ice of Christ, to expect 
His pardoning mercy on 
his death-bed. He at 
last professed to have 
obtained pardon for all 
his sins, and the purifi- 
cation of his heart 
through the blood of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. From 
the time that he realized this great blessing, and attached 
himself to the Church, he never expressed the slightest 
doubt, but with meekness and humility praised the Lord 
for His abundant mercy, and with unwavering confidence 
reposed upon the Saviour, and died in the full assurance of 
a glorious immortality .— Page 395, "American Christian 
Riders" by Edward J. Giddings. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



3 6 5 




SERGEANT SMITH PRENTISS, 

Lawyer, Orator, and Congressman. (1808-1850.) 

E called repeatedly upon God. One day when he was 
very low, and much distressed at the idea of death, I 
urged him to go to the Saviour, and repeated to him 
many sentences from the Bible ; but he said God 
would never forgive him ; that I did not know how wicked 
he had been. I told him only to repent and believe in the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and " though his sins were as scarlet, they 
would be white as snow." This seemed to quiet him. . . 
. . Yesterday I heard him say, as if to himself, " O God, the 
Son, have mercy on me ! " — Page 561, Volume II, of U A 
Memoir of S. S. Prentiss" edited by his brother. 




TERENCE VINCENT POWDERLY, 

General Master Workman of the Knights of Labor. 



H RI ST 
was right. 
H e spoke 
for the 
poor, worked for 
the poor, and died 
for the poor. He 
went to the bot- 
tom of land, mon- 
ey, and labor ; was 
a lover of equality 
and fraternity ; be- 
lieved that no one 
was better than 
his brother man. 
He combated 
evils as he found 
them. His efforts 
were directed 
against the money 




366 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

changers or bankers of His day ; against the crafty few who 
stole the land from the many ; and, if there were railroads at 
that time, would have demanded that the rights of the peo- 
ple be respected by their presidents and directors. Christ 
scourged the money-changers because He saw that the prac- 
tices of that character were calculated to enslave the poor 
and gather the wealth in the hands of the few. He de- 
nounced the grabbing of land because he saw in that prac- 
tice, next to the currency question, the most important prob- 
lem of that day. He inaugurated a crusade against the twin 
robbers of land and finance, and so aroused the people that 
the overthrow of those usurpers was threatened ; they united, 
and though they did not have the aid of a servile, monopoly- 
enslaved press at that time, they succeeded in making many 
of those whom He labored to serve believe that He was a 
monster, and they did the work of the monopolists in cruci- 
fying their best Friend. Many condemn them for it, but I 
do not. They were poor, ignorant, easily deceived, and, as a 
consequence, did not discover their error until it was too late ; 
the deed was done, their enslavement a certainty, and monop- 
oly triumphed, just as it does to-day. 

Christ founded Christianity ; and if Christianity means any- 
thing, it means that for which Christ died should be prac- 
ticed on earth by men and women. Churches were founded 
in His name, but in His name only. If Christ were to visit 
this earth now, and on a Sunday morning enter one of our 
fashionable churches dedicated to His honor and glory, He 
would be given a seat near the door where He would hear 
His disciples apologizing for the mortal sins of the rich and 
denouncing the trivial omissions of the poor. He would 
leave that edifice, that house of God (?), to denounce it and 
its teachings ; to denounce the systems upheld by that church 
and its minister. He would attack our political system be- 
cause of its rottenness ; our railway system because if its 
menace to the liberties of the poor; our system of finance as 
the most adroit swindle of the centuries ; our land system as 
being just as bad as when He died, and would be crucified in 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



3 6 7 



the public press, that moulder of public opinion, with more 
diabolical hate and fury than when He was nailed to the Cross. 
He would find the tribes of Judas strong and numerous ; the 
descendants of those who raised the Cross and nailed Him to 
it would He find in charge of the political machinery of the 
day. Christ was right ; His teachings were right ; they live 
on, and will not die. They inspire the lowly, strengthen the 
weak, and shine out in blazing truth before the oppressed 
among men. All Christians agree on the divine attributes 
of Christ ; all believe Him to be the Son of God, and equal 
to Him in power, love, and goodness. What more could I add 
to this grave subject? 




WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT, 

Historian, Author, and Poet. (1796-1859.) 

REJOICE, my little friend, that you are a believer. 
For my own part, I have no doubt either of the truths 
of Christianity, or of the momentous and infinite im- 
portance of those truths. I hear a thousand things 
from the pulpit that make me smile, yet I would rather be a 
Christian of the very humblest order of intellect than the 
most gloriously-gifted infidel that ever blazed like a comet 
through the atmosphere of earth. — See " The Poems of George 
D. Prentice, edited with a Biographical Sketch." 

What we do, we shall indeed be accountable. The doc- 



368 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

trines of our Saviour unfold the code of morals by which our 
conduct shall be regulated. Who, then, whatever difficul- 
ties he may meet with in particular incidents and opinions 
recorded in the Gospels, can hesitate to receive the great and 
religious and moral truth inculcated by the Saviour as the 
words of inspiration f I can not, certainly ! On this, then, 
I will rest, and for all else " Wait the great teacher, Death, 
and God adore ! — u Life of William Hickling Fresco tt" by 
George Ticknor. 

DANIEL BOARDMAN PURINTON, 

President of Denison University. 

REGARD Jesus Christ as the Central Personage of 
human history, and the Source of the world's best 
progress, as well as the Divine Revealer of the only 
infinite and eternal God. I believe the Holy Scrip- 
tures to be the inspired record of what men need to know 
concerning what God has done through Christ in their crea- 
tion and redemption. An abiding faith in the Bible as a 
Divine 'Book, and in Jesus Christ as a living, loving, per- 
sonal Saviour has, for twenty-five years, furnished me the 
sweetest, noblest, and richest experiences of my life. My 
hopes for the future of myself and of all men are centered in 
Jesus Christ, the Lord. 



Jjc 




JAMES PYLE, 

Financier and Manufacturer. 



^HRIST and the Bible are to me more than all things 
s^J else, because they are the only safe Guides ,to eter- 
nal life. I accept His Word as final, His atone- 
ment as sufficient, His Providence as plain, and His 
Will as mine. " The Christ of to-day living amongst men, 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



369 



solving, their problems, is the living and irrefutable evidence 
of the truth of the Bible." 




FRANCES QUARLES, 



English Poet. (159,2-1644.) 



GLORYING IN THE CROSS. 

"In cruce stat securus amor." 

God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of Christ.' 



Y trust is in the Cross; let beauty flag 
•JbjTJ. Her loose, her wanton sail ; 

^ Let countenance-guilding honor cease to brag 
In courtly terms and vail ; 
Let ditch-bred wealth henceforth forget to wag 

Her base though golden tail ; 
False beauty's conquest is but real loss, 

And wealth but golden dross; . 

Best honor's but a blast : my trust is in the Cross. 

My trust is in the Cross ; there, lies my rest ; 

My fast, my sole delight. 
Let cold-mouthed Boreas, or the hot-mouthed East, 

Blow till they burst with spite ; 
Let earth and hell conspire their best, 

And join their twisted might ; 
Let showers of thunder-bolts dart down and wound me, 

And troops of fiends surround me, 
All this may well confront ; all this shall ne'er confound me. 



37° A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JOHN DUNCAN QUACKENBOS, 

Author, and Professor of English Literature in Columbia College. 

xOREMOST of this class in eloquence of diction, sub- 
_^ limity of thought, and versatility of genius stands 
Isaiah. Majesty, united with elaborate finish; a 
harmony that delights the soul; a variety that im- 
parts freshness without detracting from dignity; simplicity, 
with unvarying purity of language, conspire to make the 
lyric verse of "The Evangelical Prophet" the most appro- 
priate embodiment of the awful messages of God to the Jews, 
the promise of a Messiah, and universal peace. 

Of the facts presented in these first five books of the Old 
Testament, some are confirmed by hieroglyphic inscriptions, 
but of the greater part we should have no knowledge without 
the inspired narrative. Aside, therefore, from its religious 
bearing, the Pentateuch is invaluable as an historical record 
of primeval ages; while its clear, concise, dignified style, rich 
with noble thoughts, expressed in the venerable language of 
authority, is worthy of its sublime subjects. — Pages 96 and 
91 of c< Illustrated History of American Literature" by John 
Duncan Quackenbos. 



JOSIAH QJJINCY. 

Statesman, and President of Harvard College. 
(1772-1864.) 

HE great, comprehensive truths, written in letters of 
living light on every page of our history — the lan- 
guage addressed by every past age of New England 
to all future ages, is this : Human happiness has no 
perfect security but freedom; freedom, none but virtue; vir- 
tue, none but knowledge ; and neither freedom, nor virtue, nor 
knowledge has any vigor or immortal hope except in the 
principles of the Christian faith, and in the sanctions of the 
Christian religion. — From an address delivered in Boston, 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 371 

September 17, 1830 — the close of the second century since the 
first settlement of that city. 



EDGAR QUINET, 

French Author and Philosopher. (1803-1875.) 

F any one thing distinguishes Christianity from preced- 
ing religions, it is that the Gospel is not the apotheosis 
of nature in general, but of personality itself. It has 
this character in its beginning and in its end ; in its 
monuments and in. its dogmas. . . . The internal do- 
minion of the soul which feels itself greater than the uni- 
verse — this is the lasting miracle of the Gospel. And this 
prodigy is no illusion, no allegory; it is reality. In the 
same manner as in paganism the sea, primitive night, the 
shoreless chaos, gave a solid basis to popular fictions, here, 
also, the infinite soul of Christ served as a foundation for all 
Christian influences ; for, what is the Gospel if it be not an 
unfolding of the inner world ? All life, all grandeur, as well 
as all misery, rises from the individual. Suppose, then, that 
we wish to exalt ourselves in union with all the human 
race, we must not deny the dignity of the individual. The 
noblest work of Christianity is to have consecrated the in- 
dividual in the highest manner. — Pages 74 and 75, " Voices 
of the Church" 

SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 

English Navigator, Statesman, and Courtier. (1552-1618.) 



KL* 



JOURNEY OF THE PILGRIM. 

'O cause deferred, no vain-spent journey, 
For there Christ is the King's Attorney ; 
Who pleads for all without degrees, 
And He hath angels but no fees ; 
And when the grand twelve-million jury 
Of our sins, with direful fury, 
'Gainst our souls black verdicts give, 
Christ pleads His death, and then we live. 



372 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSKS. 




The exceeding umbra- 
geousness of this tree he 
compare th to the dark 
and shadowy life of man ; 
through which the sun of 
justice being not able to 



pierce, 



we have all re- 



mained in the shadow of 
death till it pleased Christ, 
the tree of the Cross for 
our enlightenment and 
redemption. — Page 105, 
" Allibone* s Prose Quota- 
tions" 

I entreat you all to join 
me in prayer that the 
great God of Heaven, 
whom I have grievously offended — being a man full of vanity, 
having been a seafaring man, a soldier, and a courtier, and in 
the temptation of the least of these there is enough to over- 
throw a great and good man — that God, I say, would for- 
give me, and cast my sins from me, and that He would 
receive me into everlasting life ; and I hope to be saved, and 
to have my sins washed away by the precious blood of our 
Saviour, Jesus Christ, so I take leave of you all, making my 
peace with God. — "Worthies of the World." 



THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD 
RADSTOCK, 

English Statesman. 

TRUST that we shall recognize our duty and our re- 
sponsibility with reference to that magnificent Gospel 
which we rejoice in. ... I think it will have 
your hearty assent when I propose that we spend a 
short time praying definitely for those who have gone out in 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 373 

the name of Christ by thousands and tens of thousands to 
other lands. 

Supposing we all had to face these difficulties eighteen 
hundred years ago, when the Blessed One was upon earth, 
what would we have done? We would have said, "We will 
just go and ask the Lord about it." He would have put it 
right, do not you think? Is He less in our midst to-day? 
Have we not been looking to our organizations and our plans, 
and have forgotten Him ? We have forgotten that He is 
really in each place the Head of the little Church, and that 
when the little Church recognizes Him as the Head, He 
will, according to the very constitution of that Church, not 
merely guide it, but manifest Himself as the Head of the 
Body. — Pages 73, 90, Volume /, and page 486, Volume II, 
"Report of the Missionary Conference" London, 1888. 



SAMUEL JACKSON RANDALL, 

Congressman 1863-1890; Twice Speaker of the House, 

c _ (1828-1890.) 

ENTLEMEN, Christianity is true. The man who 
doubts it discredits his own intelligence. I have ex- 

/r^ amined this matter for myself. 

I know that God has given me influence among 
my fellow men, and as I have a prospect of recovery I want 
henceforth to use the influence of my example on the side 
of Christianity. — Washington Papers. 

Those who enjoyed his friendship will remember that 
temper which years of sickness and pain seemed only to 
make sweeter and sweeter, until he at last fell asleep on the 
bosom of his Saviour, a faithful servant of God. — In Memo- 
rial Address of Congressman Gibson of Louisiana. 

To my mind, at least, the fact that Samuel J. Randall 
openly, earnestly embraced the Christian faith ought to go 
far to confirm the wavering, and remove the doubts of those 



374 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

who are hesitating, for he was a strong man, and no fear of 
death moved him, bnt his profession was the result of a clear 
and full conviction that there is a life beyond the grave. — In 
Memorial Address of Congressman Butterworth of Ohio. 

His conversion to Christ was his greatest triumph. Yes, 
this was the triumph of his life. He so considered it, and 
did not hesitate to say so to his friends who visited him. 
. . . To me, on several occasions, he said it was his con- 
stant comfort, and when in pain his priceless consolation. 
Oh, how he wished and hoped his friends, in the midst of 
the cares of public duties, would feel it their greatest duty 
to confess Christ and become followers of the Lord. — In 
Memorial Address of Congressman O^Neil of Pennsylvania. 



JOHN RANDOLPH, 

Orator and Statesman. ( 1773-1833.) 

WAS raised by a pious mother (God bless her mem- 
ory), who taught me the Christian religion in all its 
requirements. But, alas! I grew up an infidel com- 
plete, a decided deist. But when I became a man, in 
this as well as other matters, I resolved to examine for my- 
self, and never pin my faith to another man's sleeve. So I 
bought this Bible; I studied over it; I sought and procured 
those books for and against, and when my labors were ended 
I came to this irresistible conclusion, that the Bible is true. 
It would have been as easy for a mole to have written Sir 
Isaac Newton's treatise on optics as for uninspired men to 
have written the Bible. 

Have you read THE BOOK? What I say on this sub- 
ject I not only believe, but I know to be true — that the 
Bible studied with an humble and a contrite heart never yet 
failed to do its work. ... I would not give up my 
slender portion of the price paid for our redemption — yes, 
my brother, our redemption — the ransom of sinners — . . • 



A CT.OUD OF WITNESSES. 375 

I say I would not exchange my litjle portion in the Son of 
David for the power and glory of the Parthian and Roman 
empires, as described by Milton in the temptation of our 
Lord, not for all with which the enemy tempted the Saviour 
of men. — From a letter to his brother-in-law, the Hon. St. 
George Tucker. 



LEOPOLD RANKE, 

German Historian. (1795-1886.) 

T was at this period of the world's development that 
Jesus Christ was born. How obscure and unpretend- 
ing was His life ! His occupation was to heal the sick 
and to discourse of God in parables with a few fisher- 
men, who did not always understand His words. He had 
not where to lay His head. Yet, even from the worldly 
point of view whence we consider it, we may safely assert 
that nothing more guileless, or more impressive, or more 
exalted, or more holy, has ever been seen on earth than were 
His life, His whole conversation, and His death. In His 
every word there breathes the pure spirit of God. They are 
words, as Peter expressed it, of eternal life. The records of 
humanity present nothing that can be compared, however 
remotely, with the life of Jesus. . . . Christ abolished 
the law by fulfilling it ; the Sou of Man declared Himself 
Lord also of the Sabbath, and rendered manifest the eternal 
import of these forms, which a narrow understanding has as 
yet but imperfectly comprehended. . . . The religion of 
Christ coining forth from the desert and the dungeon took 
possession of the world. ... As on the coins of Con- 
stantine, the labarum, with the monogram of Christ, is seen 
to rise above the conquered dragon, so did the worship and 
name of Jesus exalt itself over the vanquished gods of hea- 
thenism. — "History of the Popes, their Church and State" by 
Leopold Ranke, and translated by E. Foster, Volume /, pages 
2, 3, and 6. 




376 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JOHN RAY, 

English Naturalist. (1628-1705.) 

OR the cure of this disease an humble, serious, hearty 
*X'&) repentance is the only physic; not to expiate the 
guilt of it, but to qualify us to partake of the benefit 
of Christ's atonement. — Page 623, "Allibone*s Prose 
Quotations ." 

Let us admire the transcendent and unmerited goodness 
of God in doing such great things for us as sending His Son 
into the world to take our nature upon Him, to suffer death 
for our sins, and to give us the promise of eternal life ; and 
let us endeavor in some measure to answer this love by 
suitable affection of the most ardent gratitude that the eter- 
nal Son of God, equal with the Father, shall so highly 
advance our nature as to unite it with the Divine in one 
Person. — "Ltfe\of Ray," "Sunday at Home," 1876. 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ : 

Poet and Artist. (1822-1872.) 




THE NATIVITY. 

HE air was still o'er Bethlehem's plain, 
As if the great night held its breath, 
When Life Eternal came to reign 
Over a world of death. 

All nature felt a thrill Divine 

When burst that meteor on the night ; 
Which, pointing to the Saviour's shrine, 

Proclaimed the new-born Light, 

Light to the shepherds ! and the star 
Gilded their silent midnight fold ; 

Light to the wise men from afar, 
Bearing their gifts of gold. 

Light to a realm of sin and grief; 

Light to a world in all its needs ; 
The Light of Life, a new belief, 

Rising o'er fallen creeds. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. $77 

Light on a tangled path of thorns, 

Though leading to a martyr's throne ; 

A light to guide till Christ returns 
In glory to His own. 

There still it shines, while far abroad 

The Christmas choir sings now, as then, 

" Glory, glory unto our God ! 
Peace and good- will to men ! " 




CHARLES READE, 

English Novelist. ( 1814-1884.) 

HE characters of Scripture are a literary marvel. Writ- 
ten in the East, these characters live forever in the 
West; written in one province, they pervade the 
world; penned in rude times, they are prized more 
and more as civilization advances ; product of antiquity, they 
come home to the business and bosoms of men, women, and 
children. — "Bible Characters" by Charles Reade. 

This inscription, prepared by himself, appears on his mon- 
ument: 

Here Lie 

By the Side of His Beloved Friend 

the Mortal Remains of 

CHARLES READE, 

Dramatist, Novelist, and Journalist. 

His last words to Mankind are on this stone. 

I hope for resurrection, not from any power in nature, but 
from the will of the Lord God Omnipotent, who made na- 
ture and me. He created man out of nothing, which nature 
could not. He can restore man from the dust, which nature 
can not. And I hope for holiness and happiness in a future 
life, not for anything I have said or done in this body, but 
from the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ. He has 
promised His intercession ; once granted, can not be rejected; 
for He is God, and His merits are infinite; a man's sins are 
but human and finite. "Him that cometh to me, I will in 



378 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

no wise cast out." "If any man sin, we have an Advocate 
with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous; and He is the 
propitiation for our sins." 



WHITELAW REID, 

Journalist, Editor of the New York Tribune, and Diplomat. 

SHOULD have little respect for any man who had 
reached serious years and had not given much seri- 
ous thought to the questions relating to religion and 
a future state. I have known well-balanced and in- 
tellectual men, of mature age, who either did not have a 
sincere faith in the revealed doctrines of the Holy Bible and 
of the religion of Jesus Christ, or did not wish they might 
have — and I have never known any other men more thor- 
oughly deserving pity than those who could not realize that 



CHARLES FRANCIS RICHARDSON, 

Author, Journalist, and Educator. 



LOVE. 



JF suddenly upon the street 
My gracious Saviour I should meet, 
And He would say, "As I love thee, 
What love hast thou to offer Me ? " 
Then what could this poor heart of mine 
Dare to offer to that heart Divine ? 

His eye would pierce my outward show, 

His thought my inmost thought would know ; 

And if I said, " I love Thee, L,ord," 

He would not heed my spoken word, 

Because my daily life would tell 

If verily I loved Him well. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 379 

If on the day or in the place 
Wherein He met me face to face, 
My life could show some kindness done, 
Some pUx-pose formed, some work begun, 
For His dear sake, then it were meet 
Love's gift to lay at Jesus' feet. 



JEAN PAUL FRED RICHTER, 

CV-x German Author. (1763-1825.) 

/jIVING religion grows not by the doctrines but by the 




narratives of the Bible; the best Christian religious 

t^o doctrines are trie life of Jesus Christ, and after that 

the sufferings and deaths of His followers, even those 

not spoken of in the Holy Scriptures. — "Levana, Second 

Fragment" Section 38, Bohn Edition. 

Remember Jesus Christ in the dark hour ; remember Him 
who passed through life ; remember that soft Moon of the 
infinite Sun, given to enlighten the night of the world. Let 
life be hallowed to thee, and death also, for He hath shared 
both of them with thee. May His calm and lofty form 
look down on thee in the last darkness and show thee His 
Father. . . . I do think thereon in the dark hour ; ay, 
thereon and thereupon again ; and death is also beautiful, 
and the parting in Christ. — Pages 223 and 224, Chapter on 
"Religion " i7i " Wit, Wisdom, and Philosophy " of Richter. 



DAVID R1TTENHOUSE, 

Astronomer and Mathematician (1732-1796.) 

IS house and his manner of living exhibited the taste 
of a philosopher and the temper of a Christian. His 
researches into natural philosophy gave him just 
ideas of the Divine perfections. But he did not con- 
fine himself to the instructions of nature ; he saw the neces- 
sity of something more; he believed the Christian revelation. 




380 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

He observed, as one argument in favor of its truth, that the 
miracles of our Saviour differed entirely from all pretended 
miracles, in being entirely of a benevolent nature. The tes- 
timony of a man possessed of an exalted understanding to 
the fullness of Christian evidence outweighs the declarations 
of thousands. — Page io2j, u The Encyclopedia of Religious 
Knowledge." 

CHARLES RITTER, 

German Geographer. ( 1779-1859.) 

N respect to my eternity my Saviour and my Redeemer 
will decide according to His grace. While deeply con- 
scious of my unworthiness and sins, I am still trust- 
ing, because I know that God is the everlasting love 
and mercy, and that "my Redeemer liveth," who maketh 
His faithful to be the partakers of the grace of the eternal 
and righteous. — Page 187, u God's Witnesses in the Kingdom 
of Nature" by Otto Boeckler ) Professor in the University of 
Greifswald. 

WILLIAM CABELL RIVES, 

United States Senator, 1832 and 1845; Twice Minister to France. 
(1793-1868.) 

<HK blessings of a free government cannot, I am con- 
vinced, be long preserved anywhere but by the influ- 
ence and discipline of the Christian religion deeply 
planted in the hearts and lives of all classes. In a 
popular government how vital the necessity that this sense 
of responsibility should be fortified and enforced, in the minds 
of both the people and their agents, by those sanctions which 
the Word of God only can supply. . . . Build upon the 
sure foundation — the records of Divine Truth in the hands 
and in the hearts of the people, as the ever-present rule and 
guide of life — and the rain of adversity may descend, and the 





HONORABLE MEN OF OUR TIME. 



Josiah Gilbert Holland, 
Page 2)2. 
Whitelaw Reid, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton. 

Page )-]H. Page 59. 

Cyrus West Field, 

Tage 149. 

John James Ingalls, Helmuth Karl Von Moltke, 

Ta«e 24 5. Vagc 321 

John Sherman, 

Tage 40 o. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 381 

floods of temptation come, and the winds of trial blow and 
beat upon that house, and it will not fall ; for it is founded 
upon a rock. . . . Let the educated youth of onr country, 
who are now preparing themselves for a course of political 
usefulness, recollect what the greatest genius and scholar of 
our race (Milton), after having amassed all the treasures of 
human learning, said of the Bible: 

But herein to our Prophets far beneath, 

As men divinely taught, and better teaching 

The solid rules of civil government 

In their majestic, unaffected style, 

Than all the oratory of Greece and Rome. 

— " Testimonies to the Value of the Sacred Scriptures" by the 
American Bible Society. 



JOHN WILMOT ROCHESTER, 

/0 / ~^ English Author and Courtier. (1647-1680.) 

<OR the benefit of those whom I have drawn into sin, 
„ . C\ by m Y example and encouragement, I leave the world 
this my last declaration, which I deliver in the pres- 
ence of the GREAT GOD, who knows the secrets 
of all hearts, and before whom I am preparing to be judged; 
that, from the bottom of my soul, I detest and abhor the 
whole course of my wicked life ; that I can never sufficiently 
admire the goodness of God, who has given me a true sense 
of my pernicious opinions and vile practices by which I have 
hitherto lived, without hope, and without God in the world; 
having been an open enemy to Jesus Christ, doing the utmost 
despite to the Holy Spirit of grace ; and that the greatest 
testimony of my charity to such is to warn them in the name 
of God, and as they regard the welfare of their immortal 
souls, no more to deny His being or His Providence, or 
despise His goodness ; no more to make a mock of sin, or 
contemn the pure and excellent religion of my ever blessed 



382 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

Redeemer, through whose merits alone I, one of the greatest 
of sinners, do yet hope for mercy and forgiveness. Amen ! 
Declared and signed in the presence of 

J. Rochester, 
Ann Rochester, 
Robert Parsons. 
— From a small Volume by Dr. Burnet : "Some Passages in 
the Life and Death of John, Earl of Rochester." 




EDWARD H. ROGERS, 

Operative Ship-joiner, Author, and Legislator. 

HE modern Protestant world looks to Christ mainly 
as a personal Saviour. Our systems of theology ver- 
bally recognize Him as a Prophet, Priest, and King; 
but they have hitherto taken no intelligent note of 
His pre-existent function as the Master-Builder of the uni- 
verse. It is self-evident that as the prophetic and priestly 
offices imply, and, indeed, assert, His power as a King, so they 
all point toward the inference that a world must have been 
created by Him to form the arena upon which His power 
should be exercised. The fact that this commanding proof 
of the divinity of our Lord has been obscured, has not been 
due to any lack in the Scripture. It is remarkable that John, 
though the most spiritual of evangelists, should begin his 
Gospel with the statement that "All things were made by 
Him ; and without Him was not anything made that was 
made." The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews also 
recognizes the basic relation of Christ to the outward and 
visible framework of nature in the expression which he ap- 
plies to Him: "Through whom also He made the worlds." 
We are not without direct testimony of our Lord Himself 
on this point: "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." 
To which we may add the following with reference to His 
earthly parentage: " My father was a toiler, and I too toil." 
The incarnation modified somewhat His function, and makes 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 383 

Him the Master Workman of the laboring classes. I have 
thus outlined briefly some of the reasons for believing that 
Jesus Christ, in addition to His other titles of honor, is the 
Supreme Master Builder of the universe. — " National Perils 
and Opportunities" 1887. 



SAMUEL ROGERS, 

English Poet. (1763-1856.) 




FROM "THE VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS." 

OT thine the olive, but the sword to bring. 
Not peace, but war ! Yet from these shores shall spring 
Peace without end ; from these, with blood defiled, 
Spread the pure spirit of thy Master mild ! 
Here, in His train, shall arts and arms attend— 
Arts to adorn, and arms but to defend. 
Assembling here, all nations shall be blessed ; 
The sad be comforted, the weary rest ; 
Untouch'd shall drop the fetters from the slave, 
And He shall rule the world He died to save. 

— Canto XII 

THE NEW WORLD. 

Long on the wave the morning mists reposed, 
Then broke — and melting into light, disclosed 
Half-circling hills, whose everlasting woods 
Sweep with their sable skirts the shadowy floods ; 
And say, with all, to holy transports given, 
Embraced and wept as at the gates of Heaven, 
When one and all of us, repentant, ran, 
And, on our faces, blessed the wondrous Man. 
Say, was I then deceived, or from the skies 
Burst on my ear seraphic harmonies ? 
" Glory to God ! " unnumber'd voices sung, 
" Glory to God ! " the vales and mountains rung, 
Voices that hail'd Creation's primal morn, 
And to the Shepherd's sung a Saviour's born. 

— Canio IX. 



384 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

HENRY WADE ROGERS, 

President of Northwestern University ; Late Dean of Law School, 
University of Michigan. 

HEARTILY accept the Bible as the Word of God, 
and sincerely believe in Jesns Christ as the Saviour of 
men. The happiness and the peace of the world are 
dependent on the inspired doctrines which the book 
teaches, and which Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed among the 
people. The hope of the nations lies in the acceptance of the 
principles of the Christian religion. The most perfect man- 
liQod and womanhood is that which most nearly conforms to 
the Christian ideals. 



^r£u>v (fl o^ at, "1 j^st^o - 



Kji 




PETER MARK ROGET, 

English Physician, Physiologist, and Writer. (1779-1869.) 

APPILY there has been vouchsafed to us, from a 
higher source, a pure and heavenly light to guide our 
faltering steps and animate our fainting spirit in 
this dark and dreary research ; revealing those truths 
which imports us most of all to know, giving to mortality 
higher sanctions ; elevating our powers and our affections 
to nobler objects that belong to earth, and inspiring more 
exalted themes of thanksgiving and praise. — Page 447, Vol- 
ume II, in Bridgewater Treatise of u Animal and Vegetable 
Physiology" by Peter Mark Rogct, late Secretary of the 
Royal Society, and author of u Thesaurus of English Words 
and Phrases." 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 385 

CHARLES ROLL1N, 

French Historian. (1661-1741.) 

B see here the principal fruits to be derived from 
the study of profane history, of which every page 
declares what mankind were during so many 
ages, and what we ourselves would still have 
been had not the peculiar mercy which made known the 
Saviour of the world to us drawn us out of the abyss in 
which all our forefathers were swallowed up. " It is of the 
Lord's mercies we are not consumed! " A mercy freely and 
entirely conferred, which we have no power to deserve in 
any manner of ourselves, and for which we ought to render 
eternal homage of gratitude and praise to the grace of Jesus 
Christ. — From "Conclusion of the Whole Work" Volume II, 
page 626, Rollings Ancient History. 



JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU, 

French Philosopher and Writer. (1712-1778.) 

WILL confess to you, that the majesty of the Scrip- 
tures strikes me with admiration, as the purity of the 
Gospel has its influence upon my heart. Peruse the 
works of our philosophers, with all their pomp of 
diction, how mean, how contemptible, are they compared 
with the Scriptures ! Is it possible that a Book, at once so 
sublime and so simple, can be the work of man ? Is it pos- 
sible that the Person whose history it relates be Himself a 
mere man ? Does it contain the language of an enthusiast 
or an ambitious sectary ? What sweetness, what purity in 
His manners! What affecting goodness in His instructions! 
What sublimity in His maxims ! What profound wisdom in 
His discourses! What presence of mind! What sagacity 
and propriety in His answers! How great the command 
over His passions! Where is the man, where the philoso- 
pher, who could so live, suffer, and die, without weakness 



386 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

and without ostentation ! . . . Yes, if the life and death 
of Socrates are those of a philosopher, the life and death of 
Jesus Christ are those of a God. Should we suppose the 
Gospel was a story, invented to please ? It is not in this 
manner that we forge tales ; for the actions of Socrates, 
of which no person has the least doubt, are less satis- 
factorily attested than those of Jesus Christ. Such a sup- 
position, in fact, only shifts the difficulty without removing 
it ; it is more conceivable that a number of persons should 
agree to write such a history, than that one should furnish 
the subject of it. — "Emilius and Sophia" Vol. Ill, Book IV, 
pages 136 and 139 {English Edition, 1767). 



FRIEDRICH RUCKERT, 

German Lyric Poet and Orientalist. (1788-1866.) 



BETHLEHEM AND GOLGOTHA. 

D 

THOU who in a manger lying, 

Wert willing to be born a child, 
And on the Cross in anguish clying, 

The world to God hast reconciled ! 
To pride, how mean Thy lowly manger ! 
How infamous Thy Cross ! j-et stranger ! 

Humility became the law 

At Bethlehem and Golgotha. 

Proud kings, to worship One descended 
From humble shepherds, thither came ; 

And nations to the Cross have wended 
As pilgrims to adore His name. 

By war's fierce tempest rudely battered, 

The world but not the Cross was shattered 
When East and West it struggling saw 
Round Bethlehem and Golgotha. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 387 

But let us not with mailed legions, 

But with the spirit take the field, 
To win again those holy regions, 

As Christ compelled the world to yield ! 
Let rays of light on all sides streaming, 
Dart onward, like apostles gleaming, 

Till all mankind their light shall draw 

From Bethlehem and Golgotha. 




PETER PAUL RUBENS, 

Flemish Painter. (1577-1640.) 

'OTHING escapes Leonardo that related to the ex- 
pression of his snbject. ... By the warmth 
of his imagination, as well as the solidity of his 
judgment, he raised Divine things by human, and 
understood how to give men those different degrees that ele- 
vate them to the character of heroes. The best of the ex- 
amples that Leonardo has left us is the Lord's Supper, in 
which he has represented the apostles in places suitable to 
them, but our Saviour is in the midst of them all, being the 
most honorable, having no figure near enough to press or in- 
commode Him. His attitude is grave, His arms are in a 
loose, free posture, to show the greater grandeur ; while the 
apostles appear in agitation, by their vehement desire to 
know which of them should betray their Master. — Written 
in Rubens^ own hand in a Latin manuscript, a?td translated by 
De Piles. See page 524, Vol. II, of U A General Directory 
of Painters" by Matthew Pilkington. 



LORD WILLIAM RUSSELL, 

English Patriot. (1639-1683.) 

HAVE the assurance of the love and mercy of God, in 
and through my blessed Redeemer, in whom I trust; 
and I do not question but I am going to partake of 
that fulness of joy which is in His presence forever- 
more. — Page 112, Volume II of " The Life of Lord William 



388 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

Russell, with Some Account of the Times in which he Lived" 
by Lord John Russell. 




BENJAMIN RUSH, 

Physician ; Signer of the Declaration of Independence. 
(1745-1813.) 

Y excellent wife, I must leave you, but God will take 
care of you. By the mystery of Thy holy incarna- 
tion ; by Thy holy nativity ; by Thy baptism, fasting, 
and temptation ; by Thine agony and bloody sweat ; 
by Thy cross and passion ; by Thy precious death and 
burial ; by Thy glorious resurrection and ascension, and by 
the coming of the Holy Ghost, blessed Jesus, wash away all 
my impurities, and receive me into Thy everlasting king- 
dom. — Page 45, u American Medical Biography" 

I know there is an objection among many people to teach- 
ing children doctrines of any kind, because they are liable to 
be controverted. But let us not be wiser than our Maker. If 
moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mis-, 
sion of the Son of God into all the world would have been 
unnecessary. The perfect morality of the Gospel rests upon 
the doctrine which, though often controverted has never 
been refuted : I mean the vicarious life and death of the Son 
of God. — "Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophical," (1798, 
2d ed., 1806.) 

JACOB RUSH, 

Lawyer; Chief-Justice Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. 
°| 2o (1746-1820.) 

Ay- 
J^f Vy OU have imbrued your hands in innocent blood for 



the sake of a little money. And though the water 
^2£9 of the mountain hath washed the stain from your 

garments, and from your hands, yet oceans of water 
can never wash away the stain of guilt from your conscience. 
Nothing can possibly do this but the efficacious and all- 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



389 



cleansing blood of a SAVIOUR. Be advised, therefore, to 
set about the great duty of repentance, and working out your 
salvation with fear and trembling. — Extract from a Sentence 
to a prisoner guilty of murder. See "Charges on Moral and 
Religious Subjects" by Jacob Rush. 



JOHN RUSKIN, 

English Art Writer ; Poet Laureate. 



*w 




?(7\> FIRM word con- 

^L9JL cerning Christian- 
ity itself . . . 
what was the to- 
tal meaning of it? 
The total meaning was, and 
is, that the God who made 
earth and its creatures took 
at a certain time upon the 
earth the flesh and form of 
man ; in that flesh sustained 
pain, and died the death of 
the creature He had made ; 
rose again after the dead 

into a glorious human life, and when the date of the human 
race is ended will return in visible form and render to 
every man according to his work. Christianity is the belief 
in, and the love of, God thus manifested. — Volume II, 
u Rus kin's Prceterita? ' 

The English people are in possession of a Book which tells 
them, straight from the lips of God, all they ought to do and 
need to know. I have read that Book with as much care as 
the most of them for some forty years; and am thankful that 
on those who trust it I can press its pleadings. My en- 
deavor has uniformly been to make them trust it more deeply 
than they do ; trust it, not in their own favorite verses only, 



390 A CT.OUD OF WITNESSES. 

but in the sum of all; trust it, not as a fetich or talisman 
which they are to be saved by daily repetition of, but as a 
Captain's order, to be obeyed at their peril. — See Preface to 
"The Crown of Olives." 

I see in your columns, as in other literary journals, more 
and more buzzing and fussing about what M. Renan has 
found the Bible to be ; or Mr. Huxley, not to be ; or the 
school-board, that it must not be; etc., etc., etc. Let me tell 
your readers who care to know, in the fewest possible words, 
what it is. It is the grandest group of writings existent in 
the rational world, translated in the first strength of the 
Christian faith ; translated with beauty and felicity into every 
language of the Christian world ; and the guide, so trans- 
lated, of all the arts and acts of that world which has been 
noble, fortunate, and happy. — To the Pall Mall Gazette. 



JAMES F. RUSLING, 

Lawyer and General. 



THINK Jesus Christ is incomparable, and the Holy 
Scriptures inestimable. They are the chiefest mir- 
acles of all time, and the supreme good of the world 
to-day and forever. Christ and the Bible are the 
complete and absolute Revelations of God. 




In an address before the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion at Trenton, New Jersey, General Rusling related a new 
anecdote of Abraham Lincoln. While General Daniel B. 
Sickles was in Washington, soon after the amputation of his 
leg, which he lost in the third day's fight at Gettysburg, 
President Lincoln called to see the wounded man. General 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 391 

Rusling was also present in the room, and the three soon 
fell into conversation about the battle. Sickles asked Lin- 
coln whether he had not been greatly worried as to the re- 
sult of the fight. " Oh, no," replied Mr. Lincoln, " I thought 
it would be all right." "But you must have been the only 
man who felt so," continued Sickles, "for I understand there 
was a deep feeling of anxiety here among the heads of the 
government." "Yes," answered the President, "Stanton, 
Wells, and the rest were pretty badly rattled, and ordered 
two or three gun-boats up to the city and placed some of 
the government archives on board ; but I told them it wasn't 
necessary, and that it would be all right." "But what made 
you feel so confident, Mr. President?" persisted General 
Sickles. "Oh, I had my reasons, but I don't care to men- 
tion them," said Mr. Lincoln. The curiosity of both the 
other gentlemen was greatly aroused, and General Sickles 
again pressed the President to explain the grounds of his 
confidence. Finally, Mr. Lincoln said: "Well, I will tell 
you why I felt confident we would win at Gettysburg. Be- 
fore the battle I retired alone to my room in the White 
House, and got down on my knees and prayed to Almighty 
God to give us the victory. I said to Him that this was 
His war, and that if He would stand by the nation now, I 
would stand by Him the rest of my life. He gave us the 
victory, and I propose to keep my pledge. I arose from my 
knees with a feeling of deep and serene confidence, and had 
no doubt of the result from that hour." 




JOSEPH RUSTON, 

Member of Parliament. 



^HERE are some people who seem to say : " Leave the 
Christianity of your missions alone, and take, if you 
like, civilization to these people ; teach them their 
duty to their neighbor; teach them to give up their 
horrible practices of cruelty and fraud." From such an advo- 



392 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

cate I want to know where he gets his humanity from. I say 
the highest humanity is to be found in the teachings of 
Christ ; and if you take them the teachings of Christ you 
will have given them that which is a higher humanity than 
can be found elsewhere. ... I think there is no agency in 
connection with the Christian Church which is so dear to the 
heart of Christian people as that of missions. We all remem- 
ber the time of our childhood, how our hearts were thrilled, 
and how an enthusiasm was kindled, by the recital of mis- 
sionaries of their Christian work ; and even now, in our 
maturer years, that enthusiasm, if it has become somewhat 
sobered, has become characterized by a not less intense zeal. 
— From a speech delivered in Exeter Hall before the London 
Missionary Society. 




LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, 

Lawyer. 

HAT has Jesus Christ not done for humanity ? 
It is impossible to picture to the imagination the 
world as it would be to-day without the wondrous 
power and influence which for eighteen centuries 
has impelled His followers to everything great and good they 
have accomplished. The blessings of home, with honor, 
truth, righteousness, charity, and all the higher virtues, pro- 
ceed from Jesus Christ. The greatness and glory of Greece, 
with her schools of philosophy, her magnificent shrines, her 
poetry, eloquence, and art, were long past their meridian, and 
were fast fading into insignificance, while the Roman Em- 
pire was just bursting into power and splendor, when Jesus 
was born in an obscure province of this great empire, His 
Gospel destined to shed its blessed light over its remotest 
corner, until now it illuminates the civilized world — miracle 
of miracles ! Truly, at the name of Jesus Christ all hearts 
should overflow with love and gratitude, especially at that 
holy season commemorative of His birth. — Christian Regis- 
ter, December 22, 1887. 



1 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 393 

IRA DAVID SANKEY, 

Vocalist, and Composer of Sacred Music. 

FEW years ago it was said that the old Bible was 
passing away; that Science was going to remove 
ty (v ^ e Bible. This puts me in mind of an incident I 
heard recently. An Irishman was building a stone 
wall, and one of these wise philosophers came along, and 
said, " Patrick, that wall will fall down. I would not build 
any more." Patrick replied, "My dear sir, I call your atten- 
tion to this fact, that I am building this wall four feet thick 
and three -feet high, and when it tumbles over it will be taller 
than it was before." So I say about the Bible, when they 
have upset the Bible, it will be larger than before. 

I am glad to see these two flags here to-day, representing 
the two great English-speaking nations that are to lead the 
van of Christianity, and to bring light and joy to all nations 
of the earth. I am in favor of every institution that will 
hold up Jesus Christ as the great essential magnet for both 
countries and all lands. ... As we gather together 
in Jesus' name, the great moral Christian sense of these two 
nations will say to the politicians, " No more war." . . . 
There can be no war where Christ's doctrines are held and 
believed. Jesus Christ came along with this blessed message, 
" Peace on earth, and good will to men ! " — From his Address 
at the International Christian Endeavor Convention, New 
York, July 7-10, 1892. 



SIR JOSEPH SAVORY, 

9 Lord Mayor of London. 

^HRIST is the Saviour of the world, "the Lord our 

\^J Righteousness." "His name shall endure forever 

A\f* His name shall be continued as long as the sun, and 

men shall be blessed in him, all nations shall call 

Him blessed." 



394 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

I believe that the Bible is the word of God, the sword of 
the Spirit, given to us for use in our conflicts with the world, 
the flesh, and the devil. L,et us search the Holy Scriptures, 
for they testify of Jesus Christ, and are able to make us wise 
unto salvation. 



l/p- 




p&ub'As C^cuy^r^y 



JOHN GODFREY SAXE, 

Poet. (1816-1887.) 




THE OLD CHAPEL BEU,. 

A BALLAD. 



UT, chief, my duty was to bid 

The villagers to repair 
On each returning Sabbath morn 

Unto the House of Prayer ; 
And, in His own appointed place, 

The Saviour's mercy share. 

And oft when church was done, I marked 

That little maiden near 
This pleasant spot, with Book in hand, 

As you are sitting here, — 
She read the story of the Cross, 

And wept with grief sincere. 

I never tolled a deeper knell, 

Than when, in after years, 
They laid her in the churchyard here, 

Where this low mound appears, 
(The very grave, my boy, that you 

Are watering now with tears ! ) 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 395 

// is thy mother ! gentle boy, 

That claims this tale of mine. 
Thou art a flower whose fatal birth 

Destroyed the parent vine ! 
A precious flower art thou, my child 

TWO LIVES WERE GIVEN FOR THINE! 

One was thy sainted mother's, when 

She gave thee mortal birth ; 
And one the Saviour's, when in death 

He shook the solid earth ! 
Go, boy, and live as may befit 

Thy life's exceeding worth ! 




FRIEDRICH WILHELM SCHELLING, 

German Philosopher. (1775-1854.) 

v>S regards the hypothesis that the life of Christ was 
adorned by myths I suppose that every one will 
admit that only such a life is glorified by myths 
and legends as has been already in some manner 
distinguished and moved into a higher region. Now the 
question is, How, in this Jewish country, did rabbi Jesus be- 
come the object of such glorification? Was it in virtue of 
His teaching? The stones which they took up show how 
the Jews received this. What, then, is the presupposition 
which may render so extraordinary a glorification probable ? 
Only if we grant that Christ passed for what we have recog- 
nized Him to be, is it conceivable that in consequence of 
this opinion certain " myths " may have arisen. But if we 
grant this, we must presuppose the entire dignity of Christ, 
quite independently of the Gospels. It is not the Gospels 
which are necessary in order that we may recognize the 
majesty of Christ, but it is the dignity of Christ which is nec- 
essary in order that we may be able to comprehend the Gospel 
narratives. — " Philosophie der Ojfenbarung" Sammtliche 
Werke, Part II, Volume IV, page 233. 



396 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

KARL WILHELM FRIEDRICH VON 
SCHLEGEL, 

German Philosopher and Critic. (1772-1829.) 

1MQUIRY into the history of universal mental culture 
has almost everywhere shown that art, history, science 
are but so many developments, illustrations, or figur- 
ative applications of the imperishable Word of Divine 
Revelation. 

Eminent Protestants have recently acknowledged and 
vindicated the Divine origin of the Bible and the Divinity 
of Christ in a peculiar and somewhat novel way. This is 
.only an additional testimony to the truth as an earnest of 
its triumphs. 

Christian perfection and blessedness are sublimely veiled 
in these three holy books, as in a cloud. Job shows us faith 
in the heroic endurance of suffering; Solomon declares to 
us Ivove in symbolic mystery, whilst the Psalms breathe 
forth hope in the struggle of earthly aspiration. In the 
latter, Christ, the eternal Word of life and reconciliation, 
everywhere clearly represents Himself, and therefore the 
Psalms have ever been, and will continue to be for all Chris- 
tian time, the principal chant in all Church melody. They 
delineate the meeting of the Father and the Son, the anxious 
longing of the Son to be once more with the Father after a 
painful separation, and the merciful condescension of the 
Father, as they seek out each other in the surges of creation, 
and approach each other on the central grounds of love. — 
Pages 394, 392, and 99, "SchlegePs History of Literature." 



JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH 
SCHILLER, 

German Poet. (1759-1805.) 

OVE is the ladder by which we climb up to the like- 
ness of God. Unconsciously to ourselves, without 
t^ laying claim to it, we aim at this. 




: >t: 
















/ , 1 




< jjL 




Z' '""^jf^ 





CHRIST INSTITUTES THE SUPPER. 



JESUS took bread and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, 
Take, eat; this is my body. And He took the cup and gave it to them, saying, 
Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for 
many for the remission of sins . . . And when they had sung an hymn they went 
out into the Mount of Olives. — Matthew xxvi 26, 30. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 397 

Friendless was the great world's Master ; 
And feeling this, He made the spirit world 
Blessed mirrors of His own blessedness ! 
And though the Highest found no equal, 
Yet infinitude foams upward unto Him 
From the vast basin of creation's realm. 

Let us become intimate with the high ideal unity, and we 
shall be drawn to one another in brotherly love. If we 
plant beauty and joy, we shall reap beauty and joy. If we 
think clearly, we shall love ardently. " Be ye perfect, as 
your Father in Heaven is perfect," says the Founder of our 
faith. Weak human nature turned pale at this command, 
therefore He explained Himself in clearer terms : " Love one 

another ! " 

Wisdom, with thy sunlike look, 
Awful goddess ! turn thee back, 

And give way to Love, 
Who before thee went, with hero heart, 
Up the steep and stony path 
To the Godhead's very throne, 
Who, unveiling the Holiest, 
Showed to thee Elysium 
Through the vaulted sepulchre. 

— Volume IV, of Poems and Essays {Household Edition) by 
Johann C. F. Schiller. 



LEONHARD SCHMITZ, 

German Philologist ; Principal of the London College of the Interna- 
tional Educational Society. 

■HE sacred history of the Jews, moreover, is of that 
peculiar kind that it ought not to be placed upon a 
level with that of less favorable nations, it being essen- 
tially of a religious character, and everyone ought to 
learn it from the Holy Scriptures themselves, rather than 
from any summary abridgement. 

The most eventful occurrence which marks it is the birth 




398 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

of our Lord Jesus Christ at Bethlehem in Judea. His birth 
is the beginning of the Christian era, and the date of the 
present year marks the number supposed to have elapsed 
since His birth, but the more accurate chronological calcula- 
tion has shown that the birth of Christ must be dated four or 
five years before the commencement of the vulgar era. — Pref- 
ace and page 482 of "A Manual of Ancient History," by Dr. 
Leonhard Schmitz. 



john McAllister schofield, 

General-in-Chief of the United States Army. 

rN reply to your letter, I do not hesitate to say that in 
r^ my opinion modern civilization owes all to Christ and 
the Bible. 

Christianity has established its claim to Divine ori- 
gin by its own good works. It has already ameliorated vastly 
the condition of man in all countries where it has found a 
foothold, and in proportion to the degree in which it has 
commanded the practical assent of the people. Even the 
horrors of war have been more than half removed by very 
imperfect attempts to follow the dictates of the religion of 
Christ, and as time advances and as Christian principles 
become more and more the guide of men, wars will become 
less, and less injurious to the human race, and it is to be 
hoped may finally cease. It is no longer necessary to discuss 
questions of authenticity of the Bible — by the fruits of its 
teachings we know it. The moral precepts and rules of 
action therein contained are the best guide known to man for 
his government on earth. This I believe to be the almost 
universal judgment of candid men who have impartially ob- 
served the operation of the various moral forces that have 
been potential in the affairs of the human race. 




A CI.OUD OF WITNESSES. 



399 



SIR WALTER SCOTT, 

Scottish Novelist and Poet. (1771-1832.) 

|H, on that day, that wrathful day, 
When man to judgment wakes from clay, 

D Be Thou, O Christ, the sinner's stay 

Though heaven and earth shall pass away. 

Within this awful Volume lies 
The mystery of mysteries. 
Happiest they, of human race, 
To whom our God has granted grace 
To read, to fear, to hope, to pray, 
To lift the latch, and force the way ; 
And better had they ne'er been born 
Who read to doubt, or read to scorn. 

— The Monastery, Chapter XII. 



"Here he expressed," 
writing of Sir Walter Scott's 
fatal illness, "a wish that I 
should read to him, and 
when I asked from what 
book, he said, 'Need you 
ask ? There is but one ! ' 
I chose the fourteenth chap- 
ter of St. John's Gospel. He 
listened with mild devotion, 
and said when I had done, 
' Well, this is a great com- 
fort. I have followed yon 
distinctly, and I feel as if I were yet to be myself again." — 
Page 729 of "Memoirs of the Life of Scott" by J. G.Lockhart. 

The most learned, acute, and diligent student can not, in 
the longest life, obtain an entire knowledge of this one Vol- 
ume. The more deeply he works the mine, the richer and 
more abundant he finds the ore ; new light continually 
beams from this source of heavenly knowledge to direct the 
conduct, and illustrate the work of God and the ways of men ; 




zj-OO A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

and he will at last leave the world confessing that the more 
he studied the Scriptures the fuller conviction he had of his 
ozvn ignorance, and of their inestimable value. — Page 74 of 
Allibone^s Prose Quotations . 




JACOB GOULD SCHURMAN, 

President of Cornell University. 

ELJGION is a faith and a life. I agree with you 
in thinking and feeling that the way of life revealed 
and realized by Jesus of Nazareth is the highest 
ideal of humanity. As to creed of a more dog- 
matic character I am of the opinion that though we use the 
same language no two persous think precisely the same 
thoughts, nor, indeed, anyone person at different stages in 
his mental and moral growth. It is not surprising, there- 
fore that I should have to confess to an expansion of 
thought and experience, since, in early boyhood, I became 
a member of the church — an expansion, I am free to say, 
which at one time threatened to dissolve all religious 
faith. But what thinking mind can escape the embrace 
of the Infinite Spirit ? I believe in God as Universal 
Father, and in Jesus Christ, His Son, as the revelation of His 
character to men. I hold the Bible to be a guide to God, 
though a guide needing reinterpretation with every advance 
of human knowledge, insight and experience. My religious 
faith is as independent of historical criticism as it is of nat- 
ural science, and it regards conflicting theories with equal 
candor, and with equal indifference. I am a friend of all the 
churches and organizations however designated, which aim, 
each in its own way, to express the spirit of Jesus Christ. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 4OI 

WINFIELD SCOTT, 

tLieutenant-General. ( 1786-1866.) 
E is no cheap Judas. I do not think he would have 
sold our Saviour for thirty shillings ; but for the suc- 
wyC cessorship of Pontius Pilate he would have betrayed 
Christ and the Apostles and the whole Christian 
Church. — Criticism of a certain Political Character. See 
page 96, "Recollections of President Lincoln, and His Admin- 
istration" by L. E. Chittenden, his Register of the Treasury. 
The fact was entirely ignored that slavery, in several States, 
was happily undergoing a gradual but sure amelioration, and 
could not fail to be more and more spontaneously accelerated, 
without the danger of reaction, if it were left to God's own 
time to introduce good for evil in His own way. So were for- 
gotten that His great work — even the creation of the world 
— was one of time and deliberation, instead of a simple fiat, 
which, if He had pleased, would have been all-sufficient — 
that more years were allowed to intervene between the prom- 
ise made to Abraham and the advent of our Saviour than 
Africans had been in America — the chosen people of God 
being, meanwhile, slaves in Egypt and Babylon — that the 
monarch oak and lofty pine — ki fit to be the mast of some 
great ammirar' — require centuries to mature them — forget- 
ting, too, that, as has just been shown, hundreds of years, 
more or less, are, in Divine estimation, but as a moment in 
the life of a people, or race of men. — Page 177, Volume 7, 
"Autobiography of General Scott" 



JOHN SELDEN. 

English Statesman and Oriental Scholar. 
(1584-1654. 1 

E can best understand the meaning of Salvation 
\ JjLJLn from the Jews, to whom our Saviour was promised. 
They held that themselves should have the chief 
place of happiness in the other world; but the 
Gentiles that were good men should likewise have their part 



x , 



3®* 



4-02 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

of the bliss there too. Now by Christ the partition wall is 
broken down, and the Gentiles that believe in Him are ad- 
mitted to the same place of bliss with the Jews. — Pagz 246, 
u Table Talk" by John Selden. 

I have surveyed most of the learning that is among the 
sons of men, and my study is filled with books and manu- 
scripts on various subjects ; but I can not recollect any pas- 
sage out of all my books and papers whereon I can rest my 
soul, save this from the sacred Scriptures: "The grace of 
God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teach- 
ing us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we shall 
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 
looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of 
the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Him- 
self for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and 
purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good 
works." (Titus ii. 14.) — "Memoirs of John Selden" by G. W* 
Johnson. 




o 



HORATIO SEYMOUR, 

War Governor of New York. (1810-1886.) 

E who studies with care the jurisprudence of the Old 
Testament will see that this feeling of reverence for 
forefathers and devotion to country is made the sub- 
stance of positive law in the command that men 
should honor their fathers and mothers. But sacred poetry 
is filled with appeals to these sentiments, and the narratives 
of the Bible abound with proofs of the great truth that the 
days of those who fear them shall be long upon the land 
which God hath given them. 

Men cross the ocean and encounter the fatigues, danger^ 
of a journey to the other side of the earth, that they may 
walk through the streets of Jerusalem where our Saviour 
trod, or look out from the hill of Zion, or wander amid 
sacred places. These scenes bring to their minds the story 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 403 

of the past in a way that thrills their nerves. . . . You 
will find that all history, all jurisprudence, all just reasonings, 
force us to the conclusion that not only does a Divine com- 
mand, but that reason and justice call upon us all to honor 
our ancestors, and that there is a great practical truth which 
concerns the welfare and the power of all communities in the 
words of the inspired penman : " Honor thy father and thy 
mother that thy days may be long in the land which the 
Lord thy God giveth thee." — Sec his oration, "The Future 
of the Human Race" delivered at Rome, N. F., July 4, 1876. 




JOHN CAMPBELL SHAIRP, 

Principal of the United College, St. Andrews ; Professor of Poetry at 
Oxford, and Author. (1813-1885.) 

HOSE most transcendent doctrines, Christ's atone- 
ment, His resurrection, the indwelling of His Spirit, 
are as much a part of the testimony about Christ, and 
of the agencies by which He has changed the world, 
as anything that we know of His character. . . . No 
fact in man's history is more certain than this, that the sim- 
ple statement of Scripture, "Christ has appeared to put away 
sin by the sacrifice of Himself," has been efficacious to reach 
down to the lowest depths of men's souls beyond any other 
truth ever uttered on this earth. In the Resurrection, they 
have found the assurance that what conscience prophesies 
will in the end come true, that, though experience often 
seems against it, "right is stronger than wrong, truth is bet- 
ter than falsehood," purity shall prevail over sensual indul- 
gence, meekness shall inherit the earth ; for right, truth, and 
purity are summed up in their champion, Christ, and He 
has conquered death, the one unconquerable champion of the 
enemy. — Pages 322 and 323 in " Studies in Poetry and Phi- 
losophy" by John Campbell Shairp. 




404 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD, 

Secretary of State under President Lincoln. (1801-1872.) 

DO not believe human 
society, including not 
merely a few persons 
in any state, but 
whole masses of men, ever 
have attained, or ever can 
attain, a high state of in- 
telligence, virtue, security, 
liberty, or happiness without 
the Holy Scriptures ; even 
the whole hope of human 
progress is suspended on the 
ever-growing influence of the Bible. 

In his oration on "The Destiny of America," he said: 
"Shall we look to the sacred desk? Yes, indeed; for it is 
of Divine institution, and is approved by human experience. 
The ministers of Christ, inculcating Divine morals, under 
Divine authority, with Divine sanction, and sustained and 
aided by special cooperating influences of the Divine Spirit, 
are now carrying further and broadly onward the great work 
of the renewal of the civilization of the world, and its eman- 
cipation from superstition and despotism." 

In 1836, as one of the honored Vice-Presidents of the 
American Bible Society, he expressed himself as follows: "I 
know not how long a republican government can nourish 
among a great people who have not the Bible ; the experi- 
ment has never been tried; but this I do know: that the 
existing government of this country never could have had 
existence but for the Bible. And, further, I do, in my con- 
science, believe that if at every decade of years a copy of the 
Bible could be found in every family in the land its repub- 
lican institutions would be perpetuated." — "Life of William 
Henry Seward" by George E. Baker. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



405 



WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, 

English Poet and Dramatist. ^1564-1616.) 




N the more complete 
editions of Shakes- 
peare's works, which 
generally include a bi- 
ography or memoir, may be 
found a copy from his last 
will, dated in the year of his 
death. The first clause 
reads: "In the name of 
God, Amen! I, William 
Shakespeare, of Stratford- 
upon-Avon, in the county 
of Warr., gent., in perfect 
health and memory, God be 

praised, do make and ordain this my last will and testament 
in manner and form following, that is to say, first, I com- 
mend my soul into the hands of God, my Creator, hoping 
and assuredly believing, through the only merits of Jesus 
Christ, my Saviour, to be made partaker of life everlasting, 
and my body to the earth whereof it is made." 

QUOTATIONS. 

Some say —that ever 'gainst that season comes 
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated 
The bird of dawning singeth all night long. 

— Hamlet I. 1. 
Mark you this, Bassanio : 
The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. 
An evil soul, producing holy witness, 
Is like a villian with a smiling cheek, 
A goodly apple rotten at the heart. 

—Merchant of Venice, I. 3. 

Before I be convict by course of law, 

To threaten me with death is most unlawful. 

I charge you, as you hope for any goodness, 

By Christ's dear blood shed for our grievous sins 

That you depart and lay no hands on me. 

—Richard fff., I. 4. 



4-06 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

Many a time hath banished Norfolk fought 
For Jesus Christ in glorious Christian field, 
Streaming the ensign of the Christian Cross, 

And there at Venice, gave 
His body to that pleasant country's earth, 
And his pure soul unto his captain, Christ, 
Under whose colors he had fought so long. 

—Richard II, IV. i. 

Alas, alas ! 
Why, all the souls that were forfeit once, 
And He that might the vantage have took 
Found out the remedy. How would you be, 
If He, which is the top of judgment, should 
But judge you as 3<ou are ! Oh, think on that ; 
And mercy then will breathe within your lips, 
Like man new made. 

— Measure for Measure, II i. 

Therefore, friends, 
As far as to the sepulcher of Christ 
(Whose soldiers now, under whose blessed Cross 
We are impressed to fight). 



To chase these pagans in those holy fields, 
Over whose acres walked those blessed feet, 
Which fourteen hundred years ago were nail'd 
For our advantage on the bitter Cross. 

— Henry IV., I i. 



NATHANIEL SOUTHGATE SHALER, 

Ql ^ Professor of Geology in Harvard University. 

zftR 

r^QTTY first contact with natural science in my youth and 
u ^tjL early manhood had the not uncommon effect of lead- 
^- : 7f^ ing me far away from Christianity. Of late years a 
further insight into the truths of nature has grad- 
ually forced me once again towards the ground from which 
I had departed. 

It seems to me that the Christian doctrine, looked at 
purely from the point of view of natural science, has the 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 407 

merit of setting the altruistic motives on a wider foundation 
than any other form of religion. " Thou shalt love the Lord 
thy God with all thy soul and all thy might, and thy neigh- 
bor as thyself.'' It has carried man farther out of the prison 
of self than all the other teachings that have come to him. 
Considering the religions of mankind as phenomena, and 
valuing them according to their relation with the series of 
organic developments, and leaving aside in the estimate all 
the prejudices of education, it seems to the student clear 
that Christianity occupies a peculiar place in these modes of 
thought. More than any other it is, in the essentials of its 
form, in the direct trend of psychic development. In my 
own mind, the doctrine of Christ is the summit and crown 
of the organic series. — See Preface, and pages 273 and 275 
of "The Interpretation of Nature •," by Nathaniel South gate 
Shale r. 




GRANVILLE SHARP. 

English Reformer and Philanthropist. (1734-1813.) 

,HE omission of an act of mercy and benevolence to- 
wards our neighbor, when it is in our power and 
occasion requires it, is declared by our Lord, the 
Saviour of the world, to be as gross an affront, even 
to Himself, as if He had been personally neglected by us. 
" Inasmuch," says He, " as ye did it not to one of the least 
of these, ye did it not to Me." 

Though our Lord endured the most provoking indigna- 
tion from the licentious soldiery and reviling multitude in 
silence, answering not a word, agreeable to that striking 
character of a suffering Messiah so minutely described many 
ages before by the prophet Isaiah, yet He made an apparent 
distinction between the violence and injustice of these, as 
individuals, and the injustice of a man in a public character 
as a chief magistrate. — Pages 19, 63, and 64, "The Laic of 
Liberty, or Royal Law" by Granville Sharp. 



408 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



ELLIOTT FITCH SHEPARD. 



Journalist. (1823-1893.) 

THINK that " there is none other name under heaven 
given among men whereby we must be saved, but 
the Name of Jesus Christ, neither is there salvation 
in any other." Therefore Adam, Abraham, David, 
Mary, Paul, Calvin, Edwards, Wesley, Judson, Adams, Mc- 
Cormick, all the redeemed, were and will be saved only by 
faith in His Name. 

I think the Bible is the Word of God, and there are no 
seeming contradictions or errors in it which may not be 
fully explained to the satisfaction of all intelligent minds and 
honest seekers after Divine truth. But, since its Author is 
infinite, no one can expect to understand it all in this world 
where so much is seen through a glass darkly. 







&^L^L 



ETHER SHEPLEY, 




Lawyer, and United States Senator. (1789-1877.) 



HE result of this investigation was a conviction of 
my entire sinfulness, and that there was no hope but 
in the mere mercy of God. For this I supplicated, not 
in outward forms, but from the depths of the spirit, 
and at last perceived that God might be just, and the justifier 
of them that believe. My heart expanded in thankfulness to 
God for His unspeakable gift; to Christ for His unquench- 
able love, and I soon desired to acknowledge my sinfulness, 
my obligations, and my gratitude; and did so publicly by 
uniting with the Church. — Page 440, "American Christian 
Rulers" by Edivard J. Giddings. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 409 

JOHN SHERMAN, 

Congressman; United States Senator from March 4, 1861, to the Present, 

excepting while Secretary of the Treasury under 

President Hayes. 

APPRECIATE the Holy Bible as the highest gift of 
God to man, unless it be the "unspeakable Gift" of 
Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world. It is the 
Divine assurance that our life does not end with 
death, and it is the strongest incentive to honorable, chari- 
table Christian deeds. 



<5L^^ 






JOHN SHORE, 

(LORD TEIGNMOUTH.) 

Governor-General of India. (1751-1834.) 

;T\N assuming charge of the Government of Bengal in 
1793, he made this entry in his journal : "Grant, I be- 
seech Thee, that I may on all occasions regulate my 
conduct by the rules and precepts of Thy Word, and 
that in all doubts, dangers, and embarrassments I may always 
have grace to apply for support and assistance. Grant that, 
under my government, religion and morality may be ad- 
vanced; all of which I humbly implore through the medi- 
tation and in the name of our blessed Saviour, Jesus Christ." 
I depend on nothing in myself. I know I am a poor sin- 
ner, and I trust entirely on my gracious Saviour. I depend 
on what He has done for me. My whole life has been full of 
mercies. Few have spent so happy a life as mine, but I am 
not half grateful enough for it. I trust I do indeed repent of 
all my transgressions ; but I do not trust in my repentance. 
No ! I look only to the blood of Jesus for pardon and peace. 



ZIO 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



I feel that I am resting on the right foundation, and leave you 
all rejoicing. — Extracts from the July and August numbers of 
" The Bible Society Reporter " of 1891. 



SIR PHILIP SIDNEY, 



English Statesman and Poet. (1554-1586. 




J 



[q][AY not I say that 
the holy David's 
Psalms are a Divine 
poem? What else 
is the awaking his musical 
instruments? the often and 
free changing of persons? 
He maketh you, as it were, 
see God coming in His maj- 
esty. His telling of the 
beasts' joyfulness, and hills' 
leaping, is but a heavenly 



poesy 



wherein almost he 



showeth himself a passion- 
ate lover of that unspeak- 
able and everlasting beauty, to be seen by the eyes of the 
mind, only cleared by faith. 

Certainly, even our Saviour Christ could as well have 
given the moral commonplaces of uncharitableness and 
humbleness, as the Divine narration of Dives and Lazarus; 
or of disobedience and mercy, as that heavenly discourse of 
the lost child and the gracious father; but that His thor- 
ough-searching wisdom knew the state of Dives' burning in 
hell, and of Lazarus being in Abraham's bosom, would more 
constantly (as it were) inhabit both the memory and the 
judgment. — J. Radfor Thomson, in Volume III, "Short Bi- 
ographies for the People." 



J 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 411 

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY, 

Congressman and Major-General. (1811-1891.) 

Y religious training had so firmly impressed me with 
] VJL the truths of the Christian religion, and of Christian 
doctrine as enunciated in the Old and New Testa- 
ments, that I was content to take them as divinely 
inspired, and as such they constituted a perfect rule of life 
for the guidance and conduct of Christians, irrespective of 
forms of church government and theological disputes. — Page 
63, " The Ancestry, Life and Times of Hon. Henry H. Sibley" 
by Nathaniel West. 



% 




BENJAMIN SILL1MAN. 

Physicist. (1779-1864.) 

"^HE relation of geology, as well as astronomy, to the 
Bible, when both are well understood, is that of per- 
fect harmony. The Bible nowhere limits the age 
of the globe, while its chronology assigns a recent 
origin to the human race ; and geology not only confirms 
that the Genesis presents a true statement of the progress 
of the terrestrial arrangements, and of the introduction of 
living beings in the order in which their fossil remains are 
found entombed in the strata. The Word and the works of 
God can not conflict, and the more they are studied the 
more perfect will their harmony appear. 

His prayer at the conclusion of a course of lectures in 
college, on the 13th of June, 1855: "Thus, O Almighty 
God, hast Thou led me on in mercy almost to the close of a 
long life. . . . For myself, in the evening of my life, 
may I be every day ready to die, trusting in Thy mercy 
through the Redeemer of men ; and if power and opportu- 
nity to be useful are still continued to me, may I have a dis- 
position, as well as ability, to honor Thee, and to benefit my 



412 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

fellow men. For my salvation I depend entirely upon the 
Redeemer. In the sight of God I have no merits of my 
own, and feel deeply that if I am saved it will be of grace 
and not of works. I have none to offer that are worthy of 
Thine acceptance. And now, my Heavenly Father, I im- 
plore Thy blessing upon my dear children and their children, 
and upon the faithful and devoted companion whom Thou 
hast in mercy given me. I implore it, also, for the precious 
youth who are about to go into the world. Bless them all in 
time and eternity through Christ our Lord and Redeemer." 
— Volume II of his life, by G. P. Fisher. 



DANIEL EDGAR SICKLES, 

Major-General in Civil War, Diplomat, and Congressman. 

} N compliance with your request I have the honor to 
state: I believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ and in 
the inspired teachings of the Holy Scriptures. The 
sacred Book affords the best guide for the conduct of 
men and of nations. Whosoever follows its precepts, reaches 
the highest elevation of mankind. And I believe in prayer 
— morning, noon, and evening. It is the just homage due 
from man to his Creator. To be heard of by our heavenly 
Father is the most gracious favor He can bestow upon us. 
Love thy neighbor as thyself is the best maxim ever re- 
vealed to mankind. It is the basis of modern civilization. 
A Christian man makes the best soldier — loyal to his flag, 
brave in battle, and generous to a fallen adversary. 





A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 413 

SAMUEL SMILES, 

Scottish Author. 

•T the head of all biographies stands the Great Biog- 
raphy — the BOOK of Books. And what is the 
Bible, the most sacred and impressive of all books — 
the educator of the youth, the guide of manhood, 
and the consoler of the ages — but a series of biographies of 
great heroes and patriarchs, prophets, kings, and judges, cul- 
minating in the greatest biography of all — the Life embodied 
in the New Testament? How much have the great exam- 
ples there set forth done for mankind ? How many have 
drawn them their best strength, their highest wisdom, their 
best nurture and admonition. — " Self-Help Series on Char- 
acter" by Samuel Smiles. 




SIR JAMES YOUNG SIMPSON, 

Scottish Physician; Discoverer of Chloroform. (1811-1870). 

HE unregenerate, unbelieving soul is compared to a 
corpse; it is "dead in sins." Of all of you who are 
now living* by faith in Christ it may be truthfully 
said to-day, as it was said eighteen centuries ago of 
the Ephesian converts to whom the Apostle Paul wrote, 
" You hath He quickened, who were dead." As many of 
you as are unbelievers are, in the strong language of Scrip- 
ture, " dead." You are dead in the eye of Divine justice ; 
for as the condemned criminal is as a " dead man," when his 
crimes have brougnt on him the legal doom of death, you are 
likewise " dead," because " he that believeth not is con- 
demned already." Further, you are also spiritually dead on 
account of being cut off by your sins from communion with 
the living God. For as a corpse moves not, stirs not, feels 
not, and can not be aroused, so are you dead to all love of 
God, and to everything pertaining to the wondrous Gospel 
of Jesus Christ. Of the dread and crushing: burden of their 



4 ] ! 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES, 



own sins your souls arc not all conscious; for the dead feel 
not. But in the infinitude o\ His Love to our fallen race, 
(iod offers to each of US individually a free and full pardon, 
and life now and forever, if we only believe on Jesus Christ, 
His Son, whom lie sent to suffer in our stead — to die that 
we might live — if we rely and rest entirely on Him as the 
all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins — as our substitute and se- 
curity, — fumes Macaulay ) I '<>//////<' 7, in "Short Biographies 
fot tin- Peopled 

EPHRAIM KIRBY SMITH,* 

Confederate Major-General and Educator. ^1824 1893.) 

KNOW that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall 
1 stand at the latter day upon the earth." Without 
V that inestimable comfort and undying faith that 
comes from the sacred Scriptures, and the religion of 

Jesus Christ, life would be a miserable failure. 



^•^W^/ /^ ^i 




JOHN COTTON SMITH. 

. Lawyer, Congressman, and Governor. 11765 1S45.) 



HILK President of the American Bible Society, he 

_o made this address: " Would that a history o( [he 
^4-\Q^ American Revolution could have been written In- 
one, who, like Xenophon, was a distinguished 
actor in the scenes described, and who, imbued with the 
right spirit, could illustrate by appropriate facts the influence 
which animated and upheld the agents in that mighty Strug* 

* llr died soi m 1 111011 Ihs .liter this testimony was written. 1 lis last words 

were these : " Though l wall? through the valley ofthe shadow of death, l 
will fear aoevil: foi Thou art with me ; Thy rod and TI13' staff they com- 
fort inc." 



A CLOUD o\ : WITNESSES. [1$ 

gle ! In such a work, if I mistake not, the present and 
future generations would perceive the fruits of early Biblical 
instruction, and learn the value of the Bible in the day of 
adversity. They would sec tin- effect of a mother's early 
faithfulness to the immortal Washington, who suffered not a 
day to pass without consulting his Bible. They would be- 
hold in an American Congress, fully exemplified, the union 
of humble piety with exalted patriotism ; a body on whom 
the whole conduct of the war devolved, hut who, neverthe- 
could anxiously deliberate on the means of obtaining 
from abroad (such was their estimate of its worth; copies of 
the Sacred Volume for their destitute and imploring citizens. 
. . . But establish it in the common schools, and 
make every child and youth in the republic acquainted, of 
course, with a Book which of all others it behooves them to 
know — a Book whose Divine origin, if there were no other 

proof, is demonstrated by its perfect adaptation to ever) < a- 

pacity, the humblest and the highest ; to the condition of man 
through every sta^e and vicissitude of his earthly existence, 
as well as to his immortal destiny. 



FRANCIS H. SNOW, 

President of the University of Kansas. 

nL RECOGNIZE in the Bible an inspired record of the 
j^ religious development of the human race, culminat- 
ing in the glorious personality of Jesus Christ, and I 
believe that its pages contain abundantly the truths 
ential to salvation. 

I recognize in Jesus of Nazareth the most perfect char; 
of history. His matchless teachings, His self-sacrificing serv- 
ice for mankind as a whole, and, above all, His personal 
love 1'or every individual human being, have introduced a 
power in the world which must ultimately lead to its com- 
plete redemption. 




416 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 




SAMUEL SMITH, 

Member of Parliament. 

B have met to testify once more our continued 
belief that the Gospel of Christ is the power of 
God unto every one that believeth, and is as 
necessary as ever. Some people think that the 
Gospel has lost its power, and that man can be raised by 
science, culture, and literature. But the belief of those 
around me is, that man, in all his essential characteristics, is 
the same to-day as in the first century of the Christian era — 
a poor and sinful creature, and that nothing but the grace of 
God can raise him. Skepticism never supported Christian 
philanthropy, nor cherished noble self-sacrifice. — From his 
address at Exeter Hall, at the annual meeting of the London 
Missionary Society, May, 1889. 




ROBERT SOUTHEY, 

English Poet-Laureate. (1774-1843.) 

F Christians in any Hf' .;JHH 

country, yea, if any 

collected body of 

them, were what 
they might, and ought, and 
are commanded to be, the 
universal reception of the 
Gospel would follow as a 
natural and promised result. 
— Page 222 of " Allibone^s 
Prose Quotations" 

The evidence of Chris- 
tianity is as demonstrative 
as the subject admits ; the 
more it is investigated, the 
stronger it appears. But the root of belief is in the heart, 
rather than in the understanding. For many years my be- 
lief has not been clouded with a shadow of doubt. — From 
the " Published Letters of Robert Southey" 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 417 

PRAYER. 

Lord, who art mindful as well as just, 
Incline Thine ear to me, a child of dust! 
Not what I would, O Lord, I offer Thee, 

Alas! but what I can. 
Father Almighty, who hast made me man, 
And bade me look to heaven, for Thou art there, 
Accept my sacrifice and humble prayer. 
Four things which are not in Thy treasury 
I lay before Thee, Lord, with this petition 

My nothingness, m}- wants, 

My sins, and my contrition. 



JAMES R. SOVEREIGN, 

General Master Workman of the Knights of Labor. 

"T is my firm opinion that if the Divine teachings of 
Christ and the Bible were practiced by the people 
there would be no need of a labor organization on 
earth. If the Saviour had confined His teachings to 
theological questions He might have lived a peaceful life and 
died a natural death, but H.e took into consideration the 
material welfare of the people from an economic standpoint. 
He rebuked the rich, he denounced usury, and instead of 
inviting idlers, said: "Come unto Me all ye that labor and 
are heavy laden and I will give you rest." 

The precepts of Christ are a withering rebuke to the legal- 
ized oppression of labor, and if heeded by the people would 
purge the social atmosphere of its impurities. The anthem 
of Bethlehem, " Peace on earth, good will to men," is the 
grandest philosophy of human life. Around it cluster the 
virtues and the hopes of the race. It comes to us to-day, 
after flowing along the current of human thought for more 
than two thousand years, with no modulation of its rhythm, 
and when rightly understood it will obliterate avariciousness 
from the minds of men and heal the selfish passions of the 
human heart. It brands monopoly as extortion, and oppres- 



4l8 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

sion as a crime. It denounces legalized robbery and con- 
demns the sacrifice of human souls on the altar of greed. 
This is Christ. And when His teachings attain their des- 
tined power over the nations of the earth, love, faith, and 
charity will not stand appalled at the tears of the homeless 
amid palaces of wealth or the wails of the hungry in a land 
of plenty. 




<~^%^L- • 



BENEDICT SPINOZA, 

Dutch Philosopher. (1632-1677.) 



CONSIDER the utility and the need for Holy Scrip- 
ture or Revelation to be very great. For as we can 
not perceive by the natural light of reason that sim- 
ple obedience is the path of salvation, and are taught 
by Revelation only that it is so by the special grace of God, 
which our reason can not attain, it follows that the Bible has 
brought a very great consolation to mankind. All are able 
to obey, whereas there are but very few, compared with the 
aggregate of humanity, who can acquire the habit of virtue 
under the unaided guidance of reason. Thus, if we had not 
the testimony of Scripture, we should doubt of the salvation 
of nearly all men. 

We may conclude, therefore, that the whole Divine law, 
as taught by Scripture, has come down to us uncorrupted. 
Besides this, there are certain facts which we may be sure 
have been transmitted in good faith. For instance, the main 
facts of Hebrew history, which were perfectly well known to 
every one. The main facts of Christ's life and passion were 
immediately spread abroad through the whole Roman em- 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 419 

pire. It is, therefore, scarcely credible, unless nearly every- 
body consented thereto, which we can not suppose, that suc- 
cessive generations have handed down the broad outline of 
the Gospel narrative otherwise than they have received it. 

Now, as in the whole course of my investigation I found 
nothing taught expressly by Scripture which does not agree 
with our understanding, or which is repugnant thereto, and 
as I saw that the prophets taught nothing which is not very 
simple, and easily to be grasped by all, and, further, that they 
clothed their teaching in the style, and confirmed it with the 
reasons, which would most deeply move the mind of the 
masses to devotion toward God, I became thoroughly con- 
vinced that the Bible leaves reason absolutely free ; that it 
has nothing in common with Philosophy ; in fact, that Reve- 
lation and Philosophy stand on totally different footings. — 
Pages 198, 173, and 9, Volume /, u Works of Spinoza" Bohrts 
Philosophical Library. 



ALBERT SPICER, 

Member of Parliament. 



CONFESS to being a pretty keen party politician; 
and I am a politician because I want to see the 
principles of the Word of God, as laid down in God's 
Book, carried out in our daily life throughout our 
Empire. If I felt that Christianity was untrue, I should not 
remain a politician for a day. . . . I ask that, as differ- 
ent regiments of one great army, we may all work together 
heartily for that Saviour and for that Christ whom we all 
love and whom we desire to serve. I trust that as we work 
in this spirit, though holding different opinions, the Holy 
Spirit may increasingly own and bless each copy of His 
Word sent forth to spread our Saviour's kingdom in the 
earth. — Extracts from his Address at the Anniversary of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society, May, 1893. 



420 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



EDMUND SPENSER, 



English Poet-Laureate. ( 1552 ?-i5gg.) 





THE LORD'S DAY. 

OST glorious Lord of life, that on this day 
Didst make Thy triumph over death and sin, 
And, having harrowed hell, didst bring away 
Captivity thence captive, us to win, 
This joyous day, dear Lord, with joy begin ; 
And grant that we, for whom Thou didst die, 

Being with Thy death-blood clean washed from sin, 
May live forever in felicity ; 
And that Thy love, we weighing worthily, 

May likewise love Thee for the same again ; 
And for Thy sake, that all like dear didst buy, 
With love may one another entertain. 
So let us love, dear love, like as we ought : 
Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 421 

WILLIAM SPRAGUE, 

Governor, United States Senator, and Manufacturer. 

BEG to say, that though I have been nauseated by 
those who claim, without knowledge or reason, to a 
special and conspicuous devotion to Jesus Christ as 
God and the Saviour, and the Bible as the Word of 
God, I have from a standpoint of the practical, the mathe- 
matical, and the mechanical, the clearest perception of 
Jesus Christ as the Saviour — the Intermediator — and the 
Bible as the Word of God; meaning by this, that which 
tells me in advance what is to occur; and which places be- 
tween me and death an impervious shield, and evolves a sav- 
ing principle, as Christ, which, enforced by means at men's 
disposal, will save nations, as individuals, here and here- 
after: is the Word, the Saviour, the God to me. 




BARON AUGUSTE DE STAEL, 

French Author; Son of the Celebrated Madame De Stael. 
(1790-1827.) 

^T is a grand subject for meditation, to behold in our 
modern society the love of the holy doctrines of the 
Gospel advancing with the progress of philosophy and 
of political institutions, so that the nations which are 
most advanced in civilization and in liberty are also the 
most religious, the most truly Christian. It appears that 
Providence has reserved this blessing for our age, and that 
the Bible Societies are the instruments by which it is to be 
accomplished. How consoling, then, it is to behold your 
country, this classic land of reason and liberty, embracing 
the cause of the Gospel with so much zeal and success. 
And what salutary influence will not the authority of your 



422 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

example have on those whom a narrow philosophy or a 
false shame has hitherto kept at a distance from the religion 
of Jesus Christ. We constrain ourselves to walk in your 
foot-steps; and although our Bible Societies are not so nu- 
merous and active as they might be, and ought to be, we 
have every reason to thank God for the good which they be- 
gin already to produce. — From a Letter to the American 
Bible Society, in 1822, and written while Secretary of a Bible 
Society in Paris. 

EDWARD GEOFFREY SMITH-STANLEY, 

"Lord Derby"; Prime Minister of England. 
(1799-1869.) 

B was far from being indifferent to religious questions, 
even when they were wholly unconnected with poli- 
tics, and early in life he had written a handbook for 
children — "Conversations on the Parables." . . . He 
confessed that his sympathies, his feelings, his affections 
were with that party which, with their Bibles for their guide, 
with the ancient fathers of the Church and the modern 
lights of the Reformed Church as the commentators and 
assistants, are more ready to inculcate upon their hearers the 
practiced precepts than the abstract doctrines of religion, the 
party which would not compliment any of the Church's fun- 
damental and essential doctrines. — n The Earl of Derby" by 
George Saints bury, pages 213 and 214. 




HENRY MORTON STANLEY, 

Explorer " In Darkest Africa." 

HAT I want, and what I have been endeavoring to 

ask, for the poor African has been the good offices 

of Christians, ever since Livingstone taught me, 

during those four months I was with him. In 

187 1 I went with him as prejudiced as the biggest atheist in 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 423 

London. I was out there away from a worldly world. I saw 
this solitary old man there, and asked myself "Why on 
earth does he stop here? What is it that inspires him ? " 
For months after we met I found myself listening to him, 
and wondering at the old man carrying out all that was said 
in the Bible. Little by little his sympathy for others became 
contagious; mine was aroused; seeing his piety, his earnest- 
ness, and how he went quietly at his work, I was converted 
to Christ by him, though he had not tried to do it. 





You who, throughout your long and varied life, have stead- 
fastly believed in the Christian's God, and before men have 
professed your devout thankfulness for man)' mercies vouch- 
safed to you, will better understand than many others the 
feelings which animate me when I find myself back to civili- 
zation, uninjured in life or health, after passing through so 
many stormy and distressful periods. Constrained at the 
darkest hour to humbly confess that without God's help I 
was helpless, I vowed a vow in the forest solitudes that I 
would confess His aid before men. A silence as of death was 
round about me ; it was midnight ; I was weakened by ill- 
ness, prostrated with fatigue, and worn with anxiety for my 
white and black companions, whose fate was a mystery. In 
this physical and mental distress I besought God to give me 
back my people. Nine hours later we were exulting with a 
rapturous joy. In full view of all was the crimson flag with 
the crescent, and beneath its waving folds was the long-lost 
rear column. — Prefatory Letter, Volume I, "In Darkest Af- 
rica," by Henry M. Stanley. 

Before turning in for the night, I resumed my reading of 
the Bible as usual. I had already read the Book through 
from beginning to end once, and was now at Deuteronomy 
for the second reading, and came to the verse wherein Moses 
exhorts Joshua in those few lines, " Be strong and of good 



424 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

courage ; fear not, nor be afraid of them : for the Lord thy 
God, He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, 
nor forsake thee." I continued my reading, and at the end 
of the chapter closed the Book, and from Moses my mind 
traveled at once to Mazamboni. Was it fatigue, incipient 
ague, or an admonitory symptom of ailment, or a shade 
of spiteful feeling against our cowardly four, and a vague 
sense of distrust that at some critical time my loons would 
fly? . . . But a voice appeared to say, "Be strong and of 
a good courage; fear not, nor be afraid of them." I could 
almost have sworn I heard the voice. I began to argue with 
it. Why do you adjure me to abandon the Mission? I can 
not run if I would. To retreat would be far more fatal than 
to advance; therefore your encouragement is unnecessary. 
It replied, nevertheless, "Be strong and of good courage. 
Advance and be confident, for I will give this people and this 
land unto thee. I will not fail thee nor forsake thee; fear 
not, not be dismayed." — Pages 311 and 312, Volume II, u In 
Darkest Africa" by Henry M. Stanley. 



JAMES STANLEY, 

(SEVENTH EARL OF DERBY.) 

English Royalist. (1596-1651.) 

4s for my faith and my religion, thus much I have at 
~ this time to say : I profess faith to be in Jesus Christ, 
who died for me, from whom I look for my salva- 
tion ; that is, through His only merit and sufferings. 
I thank my God for the quiet of my conscience at this time, 
and the assurance of those joys that are prepared for those 
who fear Him. Good people, pray for me; I do for you; the 
God of heaven bless you all, and send you peace. — Page 239 
in " The Worthies" by Hartley Coleridge. 





A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 425 

EDWIN McMASTERS STANTON, 

Lawyer, and Secretary of War under President Lincoln. 
e^n (1814-1869.) 

-UCH being the nature of adultery, we can easily per- 
ceive why it is that in Holy Writ the crime of the 
adulterer is pronounced to be one which admits of 
no ransom and no recompense. We can perceive 
why it is that in every book of the Old and New Testament it 
is denounced ; why it is that by every holy lawgiver, prophet, 
and saint it is condemned. . . . The Redeemer of man- 
kind, when on earth, is supposed to have mitigated the pun- 
ishment of the adulteress by requiring him who was without 
sin to cast the first stone at her. No such condition, how- 
ever, was imposed in favor of the adulterer. There was no 
mitigation of his crime, and we know our Saviour's judg- 
ment of the sin when he declared that "he who looketh at a 
^woman to lust after her committeth adultery in his heart." 
From the silence of Scripture on the occasion recorded in 
the Gospel of John it is to be inferred that, as the adulterer 
and adulteress had been taken in the act, the adulterer on 
that day in Jerusalem had been put to death by the husband, 
as he might be by the Roman law, before the adulteress had 
been brought to our Saviour's feet. — Page 332 of "Great 
Speeches by great Lawyers" compiled by William L. Snyder. 



WILLIAM T. STEAD, 

English Journalist; Editor of the " Review of 
Reviews." 

HEN I was a child I was taught at my mother's 
knee that the Bible was the Word of God. I am 
now forty-four years of age ; I have lived a tolera- 
bly active life, and what I received as a youth on 
the word of mother, I now know to be true as a result of ex- 
perimental knowledge. As a companion, as an inspiration, as 




426 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

a guide, there is no Book to be compared to it ; especially at 
times when yon are hard hit, and don't know which way to 
turn or what to do. 

There is a great deal that is human in the Bible. It is at 
least as human as Divine, therefore all the more to be treas- 
ured. It is among books what Christ was in life — the incar- 
nation of the Divine Spirit in the human body. As a child 
I was told that Jesus Christ was the Saviour of the soul. 
That is true ; but advancing years bring an ever-increasing 
consciousness of the fact that His mission was to be the 
Saviour of the world, and that the world will never be saved 
excepting by His spirit being incarnated again in the sons 
and daughters of men through faith. 



EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN, 

Poet. 

PROTEST OF FAITH. 

;F, indeed, I sin 
In counting somewhat freely on that Love 
From which, through rolling ages, worlds have sprung, 
And, last and best of all, the lords of worlds, 
Through type on type uplifted from the clay ; 
If I have been exultant in the thought 
That such humanity came so near to God 
He held us as His children, and would find 
Imperial progress through the hills of Time 
For every soul, why, then, my crescent faith 
Clings round the promise ; if it spread beyond, 
You think, too far, I say that Peter sprang 
Upon the waves of surging Galilee, 
While all the eleven hugged the ship in fear. 
The waters were as stone unto his feet 
Until he doubted. Even then the Christ 
Put forth a blessed hand, and drew him on 
To closer knowledge ! 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 427 

JOEL DORMAN STEELE, 

Educator, and Author of Scientific Text-Books. 

E have traced some of the wonderful processes by 
which this world has been arranged to supply the 
varied wants of man. Wherever we have turned, 
we have found proofs of a Divine care, planning, 
conforming, and directing to one universal end ; while from 
the commonest things, and by the simplest means, the grand- 
est results have been attained. Thus does Nature attest the 
sublime truth of Revelation, that in all, and through all, and 
over all, the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. 

Dead matter, as we commonly call it, is instinct with force. 
Each tiny atom is attracted here, repelled there, holds and 
is held by bands of iron. No particle is left to itself, but, 
watched by the Eternal Eye and guided by the Eternal 
Hand, all obey immutable law. When Christ declared the 
very hairs of our head to be numbered, He intimated a chem- 
ical truth, which we can now know in full to be, that the very 
atoms of which each hair is composed are numbered by the 
same watchful Providence. — "Text-Book 011 Chemistry" by 
Joel Dor man Steele. 




SIR RICHARD STEELE, 

English Essayist. (1671-1729.) 

iUT is this the Saviour? is this the Deliverer? Shall 
this obscure Nazarene command Israel, and sit on the 
Throne of David ? Their proud and disdainful hearts, 
which were petrified with the love and pride of this 
world, were impregnable to the reception of so mean a Ben- 
efactor, and were now enough exasperated with benefits to 
conspire His death. Our Lord was sensible of their design, 
and prepared His disciples for it. . . . It was a great 
article of our Saviour's business in the world to bring us to 
a sense of our inability, without God's assistance, to do any 
thing great or good. 



428 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

But what heart can conceive, what tongue can utter the 
sequel ? Who is that yonder, buffeted, mocked, and spurned? 
Whom do they drag like a felon ? Whither do they carry 
my Lord, my Saviour, and my God ? And will He die to ex- 
piate those very injuries? See where they have nailed the 
Lord and Giver of Life ! How His wounds blacken, His 
body writhes, and heart heaves with pity and agony ! Oh ! 
Almighty Sufferer, look down, look down from Thy triumph- 
ant infamy ; lo ! He inclines His Head to His sacred bosom ! 
Hark! He groans ! see! He expires! The earth trembles, the 
temple rends, the rocks burst, the dead arise ! Which are the 
quick ? Which are the dead ? Sure, nature, all nature is 
departing with her Creator! — Paper 356 of "The Spectator" 
by Addison and Steele. 



SIR JAMES STEPHEN, 

Historian, Author, and Professor of Modern History in the University of 
Cambridge. (1789-1859 ) 



'\D U ^OM our Redeemer Himself we have learnt what are 
c5 A the two commandments on which hang all the law 
^— K^ and the prophets. From the disciple who lay on His 
bosom, and whom He selected as the channel of His 
hieher revelations, we have learnt what are the two truths 
on which hang all the other doctrines of the Gospel: the 
first is that God is Light ; the second is that God is Love. 
Nor must it be forgotten that the Scriptures are written in 
languages totally unknown to the vast body of those who 
read them, and that incomparably the most important part 
of the Scriptures (that is, the words of our Lord and Saviour 
Himself) are known to the most learned only by translation. 
Here, then, is another source of the diversity of our judg- 
ments about the real sense of the Word of God. — See 
Epilogue, Volume I/, " Essays in Ecclesiastical Biography" by 
the Right Honorable Sir James Stephen. 




GETHSEMANE. 



THEN cometh Jesus with them into a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto His 
disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And He took with Him 
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 
. . . And He went a little farther, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, O My 
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless, not as I will, but 
as Thou wilt. And He cometh unto His disciples and findeth them asleep. — 
Matthew xxvi, 36-40. 



A CLOCD OF WITNESSES, 429 

JOHN LLOYD STEPHENS, 

Traveler and Author. O805-1852.J 

WOULD that the sceptic could stand, as I did, among 
the ruins of this city, and there open the sacred Book, 
and read the words of the inspired penman written 
when this desolate place was one of the greatest cities 
of the world. I see the scoffer arrested, his cheek pale, his lip 
quivering, and his heart quaking with fear, as the ancient 
city cries out to him, irf a voice loud and powerful as one 
risen from the dead. Though he would not believe Moses 
and the Prophets, he believes the handwriting of God Him- 
self, in the desolation and eternal ruin around him. — " Inci- 
>/> n ' of Travel in Egypt, Arabia, Pelria, and. the Holy Land," 
by John Lloyd Stephens. 



ALEXANDER. HAMILTON STEPHENS. 

Statesman. C1812-1883.1 

AM a member of the Church, and have been since my 
boyish days. They have never turned me out, and I 
^J have tried to live so that they could never have occa- 
sion to do so. I am trusting in the atonement of 
Christ for its cleansing efficacy. 

Never before, perhaps, were the great truths of the Bible 
from Genesis to Revelation more powerfully assailed than 
at present. They who lead the assault are Rationalists. 
They are also known as Materialists in philosophy. The 
assaults of these schools must be met and their sophisms 
confuted by the Sunday-School by upholding and sustaining 
the plain and spiritual truths of the Bible. . . . These 
are some of the simple truths, teachers, which I have 
thought it proper to say you should impress upon the minds 
/ir pupils. By these doctrines and principles they will 
only be shielded against the errors stated, but their 



430 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

innate moral sense will be cultivated ; their spiritual attri- 
butes of devotion will be developed through the mysterious 
agency of prayer ; and their regeneration — that new spirit- 
ual birth — though faith, so essential to salvation, will be 
consummated ; and by which their fallen human natures will 
be elevated and sublimated to a proper fitness for that higher 
life in which they will be in perfect and eternal communion 
with their Creator. — Pages 348 and 350, u Haphazard Per- 
sonalities" by Charles Lawman. 




MARK J. STEWART, 

Member of Parliament. 



E should all resolve to work yet more earnestly in 
God's vineyard while it is called to-day, and to 
leave no effort unattempted by which we may 
advance the spread of the Gospel. But we do 
not forget the words of our Lord's commission, "Go ye into 
all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." You 
will see that in Portugal the good work has been spreading, 
and that the Society's tract spade, so to speak, has turned 
the first sod, and, like a great engine, it has gone on cease- 
lessly working for the spread of truth. There, in that old 
priest-ridden country, we hear of tracts and Bibles having 
been sold, and of people forsaking their superstitions for the 
simplicity of the Gospel, and boldly affirming 

" On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; 
All other ground is sinking sand." 

And if you look at India, what do you find? There is 
danger to be apprehended there, no doubt, from the spread 
of bad literature, and from the efforts of the secular press. 
Then you have Brahminical and Buddhist and Mohamme- 
dan literature to engulf the literature of this Society, and all 
directed towards one object — the taking away of the minds 
of the people from the pure Gospel-teaching of Christ. The 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 431 

fact is, we want to flood India with pure literature, so that 
multitudes, and not one here and there, shall be found say- 
ing with a Brahmin, " We like Christianity most, because it 
is the simplest, the most reasonable, and the most benevo- 
lent religion in the world." — Address in the Great Hall of 
the Cannon Street Hotel, London, May 20, 1890. 



BALFOUR STEWART, 

British Physicist. 

PETER GUTHRIE TAIT, 

Professor of Mathematics. University of Edinburg. 

UR object in the present work is to endeavor to show 
that the presumed incompatibility of Science and Re- 
\lf^P ligion does not exist. This, indeed, ought to be self- 
evident to all who believe that the Creator of the 
Universe is Himself the Author of Revelation. 

Blessed Lord, who hast caused all Holy Scripture to be 
written for our learning, grant that we may in such wise 
hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that 
by patience, and comfort of Thy holy Word, we may em- 
brace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, 
which Thou hast given us in our Saviour, Jesus Christ. — 
From Preface and Prayer, "The Unseen Universe," by B. 
Stewart and P. G. Tait. 



RICHARD STOCKTON, 

Signer of the Declaration of Independence. 

(1730-1781.) 

S my children will have frequent occasion of perus- 
ing this instrument, and may probably be peculiarly 
impressed with the last words of their father, I think 
proper here, not only to subscribe to the entire be- 
lief of the great leading doctrines of the Christian religion, 




^ 



432 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

such as the being of God, the universal defection and de- 
pravity of human nature, the divinity of the Person, and 
completeness of the redemption purchased by the blessed 
Saviour ; the necessity of the Divine Spirit, of Divine faith, 
accompanied with an habitual virtuous life, and the univer- 
sality of Divine Providence ; but also in the heart of a father's 
affection to charge and exhort them to remember "that the 
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." — From his 
Will. See page 463, "American Christian Rulers," by Ed- 
ward J. Giddings. 

GEORGE GABRIEL STOKES, 

President of the Royal Society, Professor of Mathematics in the Univer- 
sity of Cambridge, and M. P. for the University. 

E all admit that the book of Nature and the Book 
of Revelation come alike from God, and that, con- 
sequently, there can be no real discrepancy be- 
tween the two if rightly interpreted. The prov- 
inces of Science and of Revelation are, for the most part, 
so distinct that there is little chance for collision. — From 
the Bible Society Monthly Reporter, London, January, 18S9. 
By the incarnation, the human nature was taken into the 
Divine ; and though sinless Himself, the Son of God suffered 
death, the appointed penalty of transgression, in order that 
through His blood we might have redemption, the forgive- 
ness of sins. By the human and the Divine natures being 
united in Him it was not possible that He should be held 
down by death, and He arose from the dead, the first fruits 
of them that slept ; rose, however, not to the natural hu- 
man life in which He was crucified, but to a mysterious, 
supernatural, higher life, of which the redeemed are in due 
time to be partakers. How it is that the death of Christ is 
effectual to the forgiveness of sins and restoration of men to 
a condition of perfect innocence is a great mystery, which 
will probably never be understood till in a future life it is 
experienced; and, perhaps, attempts to explain it has done 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 433 

more harm than good. It is enough for us to trust that it 
will be for those who come under the conditions of it. — 
From the Chapter on "The Scientific and Mor at Arguments 
concerning a Future Life, Supplemented by the Teachings of 
Revelation" in u That Unknown Country" 



r> 



EMERY ALEXANDER STORRS, 

Lawyer. (1835-1886.; 

7TN his personal recollections of this lawyer, Mr. M. P. 

Brady relates this incident : " Himself and a Mr. W. J. 
' Culver were invited by Mr. Storrs to his room one 

evening, and after picturing to them Florence Cathedral 
in his peculiar brilliant manner, he replied earnestly to one 
of the guests who had made some doubtful remark as to the 
Divinity of Christ, and, rising to his feet at the same mo- 
ment, " Stop right there — right there ! Was there ever any 
other human being like Him? Follow His whole history 
from the beginning, and if you still doubt who He was, listen 
to His last utterance. There on the Cross He was suffering 
the most fearful torments imaginable, hearing the jeers and 
the insults of the crowd, and yet He said these grand words: 
'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!' 
When was there ever a human being that could rise to such 
a height of charitv and forbearance ? " 



c/; 



WILLIAM STRONG, 

Justice of United States Supreme Court. 1810-1880;. 

./ OU ask me what I think of Christ.-' He is the 
JL\ Chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely 
-J — my Lord, my Saviour, and my God. 

What do I think of the Bible? It is the infallible 
Word of God, a light erected all along the shores of time to 
warn against the rocks and breakers, and to show the only 
way to the harbor of eternal rest. n^ss-i 




434 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JOSEPH STORY,* 

Justice of the United States Supreme Court, (1811-1845). 
(1779-1845.) 

HY may not the Bible, and especially the New 
Testament, without note or comment, be read and 
taught as a Divine Revelation in the college, its 
general precepts expounded, its evidences ex- 
plained, and its glorious principles of morality inculcated ? 
What is there to prevent a work, not sectarian, upon the 
general evidences of Christianity, from being read and taught 
in the college by lay teachers ? 

It may well be asked, what is there in all this, which is 
positively enjoined, inconsistent with the spirit or truths of 
the religion of Christ? Are not these truths all taught 
by Christianity, although it teaches much more? Where can 
the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so 
perfectly as from the New T Testament? — See u Life and Let- 
ters of Judge Story" edited by his son, William W. Story, 
Chapter XII, Volume II. 

* His son, William W. Story, in the same authority as above, sums up 
his father's religious faith as follo-ws : " He believed in the inspiration 
and doctrine of Christ, in the immortality of the soul, in the unity of God ; 
and he often intimated a design to write a work in which the rules of 
legal evidence should be applied to the facts of the Gospel narrative, and to 
the question of its authenticity argued before a court of justice." 



WILLIAM WETMORE STORY,* 

Sculptor and Poet. 



A SONG OF ISRAEL. 

r (oAUR Christ shall come in glory and in power, 
s£j Born to command. 

AN^r He shall not weep or pray, or cringe or cower, 
But with God's lightnings in His hand 
Tremendous then shall stand. 

* Son of Judge Joseph Story, whose testimony precedes this selection. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 435 

All eyes shall drop before His face 

In doubt and dread; 
When He shall come, the Saviour of our race, 
The crown of triumph on His head, 

Even as the prophet said. 

His hand shall wipe away their griefs and woes 

Who cling to Him. 
His wrath, like chaff, shall scatter all their foes ; 
His power shall build Jerusalem 

With sounding song and hymn. 

The hand and thought of man shall quail before 

That shape august ; 
And prostrate every face to earth adore 
Him in whose balance we are dust, 

The mighty King — the Just. 

Then shall the song of triumph once again 

For us be heard, 
And Israel's children sound the joyous strain, 
The Christ has come — the King and Lord — 

The Wonderful— the Word. 




COUNT JOHANN FRIEDRICH STRUENSEE 

Physician, and Prime Minister of Denmark. (1737-1772.) 

HE perpetual remembrance of the greatness of God's 
mercy, which was shown to me by the redemption of 
Christ, made me overcome those difficulties I found 
arose from my natural disposition. The pleasure of 
finding a happiness which I had hitherto renounced could 
not produce in me a lively joy, because I remembered that 
I had been seeking it formerly in a manner that could not 
please God. It was impossible to make myself perfectly 
easy. I was prevented from this by the thought that if I 
had formerly entertained my present sentiments I might 
have thereby excited those persons with whom I had been 
most intimate to inquire after the same happiness. Now I 



436 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

am praying to God that He may do it, and I am persuaded 
He will, since Christ has promised it. Prayer takes away 
the uneasiness I have on this and other points which are dis- 
agreeable for me to remember. I direct my thoughts to 
God, repeat the doctrines of the Gospel, reflect on their con- 
nection, apply them to myself, and if I address myself to 
God in prayer in the name of my Redeemer for these mer- 
cies, I find that these contribute to render me easy, and I 
admire with gratitude the power of religion. — From a "Nar- 
rative of His Life" by D. Mnnter, pages 247 and 248. 




CHARLES W. SUPER, 

President of Ohio University. 

v>FTER years of careful study devoted to the subject, 
I have become convinced that Christianity is pre- 
eminently the miracle of the Ages. The doctrines 
taught by Christ, the zeal with which the disciples 
promulgated them, and the self-sacrificing activity shown by 
the early Christians of all grades were something unknown 
or even unthought of until then. The most profound philos- 
ophers had not imagined the possibility of a brotherhood such 
as Christianity called into vigorous life. It broke the social 
barriers that had hitherto separated man from his fellow man, 
and placed all believers on an equality, without distinction of 
rank, nationality, or sex. Heathenism taught that the atti- 
tude of the gods toward men is naturally one of hostility, 
and attributed most human ills to their direct intervention. 
Christianity taught that a God of love rules in the affairs of 
men, who wishes all His creatures to be happy, and that sin 
is the primary cause of all the misery in the world. It laid 
stress, for the first time, on the close connection between re- 
ligion and morality, between creed and conduct, and insisted 
that a man can in no wise be acceptable to the Ruler of the 
universe so long as he leads an impure life. It is motive 
rather than specific acts that commend a man to Christ. The 
morality of the Bible is a consistent whole, and it is only on 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 437 

the lines therein laid down that one can attain the highest 
happiness of which he is capable. I am unable to see how 
the most searching criticism can ever, in the slightest de- 
gree detract from the value of the Bible as the great ethical 
code of the human race. n 



GEORGE HAY STUART, 

President of the Christian Commission during the Civil War 
Philanthropist. 

HAVE prayed for this union ; and I have labored for 
it, simply because I believed that it would bring glory 
to my blessed Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. . . . 
I have labored and prayed for it, because it would 
bring brethren together, now unhappily divided, to see eye 
to eye, that the nations that have so long bowed down to 
idols might learn of Jesus and Him crucified. . . Since 
these twenty-four hours have passed away eight-six thou- 
sand four hundred immortal souls have gone to the judg- 
ment seat of Christ. . . . "I never hear the funeral bell 
toll without asking myself the question, What have I done 
to point that departed soul to the Lamb of God that died to 
save a perishing world? " Brethren, buckle on your armor 
for the great conflict ; buckle it on for giving the glorious 
Gospel of the Son of God to the millions of the earth who 
are perishing for lack of knowledge. — Page 578, "T/ie Pres- 
byterian Church Throughout the World" 



DAVID LOWRY SWAIN, 

Lawyer, Governor, and Educator. (1801-1868.) 

WAS incited by pious parents to the frequent perusal 
of the Holy Scriptures in my childhood. The foun- 
dation of a habit laid so early by such hands has been 
strengthened by the lapse of time. Some years since, 
influenced by the suggestion of the younger Adams to his 



438 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

son, I determined to read tin- Sacred Volume through once a 
year, by assigning five- chapters as the ordinary and appro- 
priate duty of each day. . . . During the seventeen 
years that I have been connected with the University it has 
been a part of my routine duty to hear a recitation of the 
senior class every Sabbath throughout the scholastic year. 
I have uniformly availed myself of this opportunity to direct 
the attention of the class, sometimes by systematic instruction 
in the text, and always by frequent references, to the Holy 
Scriptures. . . . If a skeptic were to engage sincerely iM 
the performance of such a duty, the declaration of our Saviour 
that u if any man will do His will, he shall know of the 
doctrine" might find a practical exemplification. — "Testi- 
mony to (he I r alue of the Sacred Scriptures" by the American 
Bible Society . 

JOSEPH SWAIN, 

r v t i President of Indiana University. 

/|TMIK BIBLE must be interpreted bv human agencies 

I just as it was revealed to human agencies. 
IjvV I wish to express the belief that between the two 
great Divine books, Nature and the Bible, as origin 
nallv revealed, there can be no essential difference. 

Cod's Word does not teach physical truths so much as 
moral truths, and the things which are largely beyond the 
pale of natural science. "Wherever nature is described it is 
incidental to moral teachings. 

Sir William Rowan Hamilton appears to have been an 
earnest believer in Christ, as numerous references in his 
writings show. " I am only too happy," he remarks, " to 
bear my testimony to the truth of the Christian religion, 
and as not being prevented by my scientific studies from 
believing what a Christian ought to believe." 

Andrew D. White, late President of Cornell University, 
finds that, after all the conflict in the realms of religion, the 
Psalms of David remain no less beautiful, the great utter- 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 4 yj 

ances of the Hebrew prophets no less powerful, the sermon 
on the Mount, "ihr first commandment, and the second 
which is like unto it," the definition of pure religion and 
un defiled, by St. James, appeal no less to tin- deepest things 
in the hnin, -in heart. 

In 1882 letters were published from eighl of the leading 
scientists of the world in answer to the three following 
questions : 

1. Are a majority of the recognized authorities in phys- 
ical ' ience hostile to Christianity? 

2. Is there an) necessary antagonism between physical 

Science and Christianity? 

3. Is the study oi physical science of necessity prejudi- 
cial, in the student himself, to a personal acceptance oi 
Christianity ? 

*The eighl men referred to are Sir John W. Haw, on, of 
M< ( /ill College; Professor Charles A. young, of Princeton Col- 
Professor Tait, of Edinburgh University; Professor 
Kirkwood, of Indiana University; the late Professor Asa 
Gray, and Professor Benjamin Peirce, both of Harvard; 
Professor Joseph LeConte, oi the LJniversit) oi California; 
and Professor James I). Dana, of Vale College. Not one oi 
this galaxy answered the second or third question in the 
affirmative; thai is, not one believed thai there is any nece 
sary antagonism between science and Christianity; neither 
prejudicial, in the student himself, to a personal acceptance 
of it. The fn 'si question is answered more fully, hut I shall 
only summarize: their views: Dawson and Gray are in- 
clined to think that only a small majority of scientific men 
■'ire hostile to Christianity. Professor Vbung believes thai 
of the scientific men of his acquaintance, a small, bul rathei 

noisy, minority are hostile to it. Professor Tait is certain 
that the question can be answered negatively with reference 
to Great Britain. "Our own time," says Professor Kirk- 
wood, "is not an exception to the histori< fa< 1 thai in all ag< 1 

'i'h'- witnesses named here, with one exception, have testified else 

where in this \><><>k. 



44° A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

minds of broadest culture have accepted Christianity." Pro- 
fessor Dana replies with an emphatic " No," and Professor 
Peirce was not aware that any of the leading men in phys- 
ical science are opposed to what they believed to be Chris- 
tianity, and the lives of the best authorities in science have 
always been of purity which Christianity could not but ap- 



JOHN LINDSAY SWIFT, 

Deputy Collector of Customs, Boston. 

NKVKR left my mother in my life but that she said 
to me, "I want to live long enough to see you come 
to your Lord and Saviour." On one occasion during 
the war for the flag I was invited to deliver an address 
in Tremont Temple. The hall was crowded and the inter- 
est intense, and at a certain point the whole audience rose 
to their feet, surging and swaying with cheers. As I stood 
there alone amid this wild outburst of enthusiasm I looked 
into the left gallery and saw one pale, unemotional face. It 
was the face of my mother. She is a little woman, and it 
seems as if I could lift her in the palm of my hand ; but 
she had great faith and love. And when I met her she said, 
"I have given you freely, my son, to the country ; but oh, if 
I could see you stand there and talk for your Saviour I would 
ask nothing more on this earth." And when I took my 
stand I went home directly to that mother. I don't know 
that I can get on with this part of my story, but you will un- 
derstand the difficulty. The stars in the skies scarcely out- 
number the prayers she had given to her Father on my be- 
half. And I was going home, the last one in her band of 
children, resolved to tell her that her Saviour was my 
Saviour, and her God was my God. We were all there, an 
unbroken and redeemed family. She gathered me in her 
arms as tenderly as when I was a helpless child. There is a 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 441 

passage in Scripture, " Except ye be converted, an . become 
as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of 
heaven." I know what that means. I know what it is to 
feel as a little child, if my hairs are gray with the footfalls of 
time. — Delivered in Boston in 1877 at the Moody Meetings. 



LEWIS SWIFT, 

C\ Astronomer; Director of the Warner Observatory. 

^lyOU ask me as an astronomer my personal opinion 
-jK of Christ and the Bible. To the first question I 

) S^s) answer : I believe Christ was, in whatever respect 
He may be contemplated, the most remarkable Per- 
sonage that ever was a denizen of our planet. I believe He 
was as He claimed to be, the Son of Man, and the Son of 
God, a combination of the human and Divine natures. To 
the second question I answer: I believe the Bible to be the 
Word of God, and as it came from the hands of its inspired 
authors was free from errors of every kind, and that it is the 
only infallible rule of faith and practice. 



<±Zt 



&L+~i<l 



ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE, 

English Poet. 



FROM "CHRISTMAS ANTIPHONES." 



HOU whose birth on earth 
Angels sang to men, 
While Thy stars made mirth, 
Saviour, at Thy birth, 
This day born again ; 




442 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

As this night was bright 

With Thy cradle-ray, 
Very Light of light, 
In the wild world's night 
To Thy perfect day. 

Thou, the Word and Lord, 

In all time and space 
Heard, beheld, adored, 
With all ages poured 
Forth before Thy face. 

I^ord, what worth in earth 

Drew Thee down to die ? 
What therein was worth 
Lord, Thy death and birth ? 
What beneath Thy sky ? 


TORQUATO TASSO, 

Italian Poet. (1544-1595.) 




EXTRACTS FROM "JERUSALEM DELIVERED." 

ERE, Lord, where currents from Thy wounded side 
Stained ihe besprinkled ground with sanguine red, 
o Should not these two quick springs, at least, their tide 
In bitter memory of Thy passion shed ? 
And melt'st thou not, my icy heart, where bled 

Tlry dear Redeemer ? Still must pity sleep ? 
My flinty bosom, who so cold and dead ? 

Break, and with tears the hallow'd region steep ; 
If that thou weep'st not now, forever shouldst thou weep ! 

Verse 8, Canto III. 

Thee, Father ! Thee they sing, coequal Son ! 

And Thee, blessed Spirit ! in whom both combine ; 
All-pitying, saving, all-consoling One ! 

Thee, Virgin-Mother of the man Divine ! 
And ye, who o'er the bright-wing'd hosts that shine 

Around, in triple orbs vicegerence have, 
Princedoms ! your succor they invoke ; and thine, 

Baptist beloved ! that in the less pure wave 
Pure Mary's sacred Son immaculate didst lave. 

Verse 7, Canto XL 




BEHOLD THE MAN! 



THE soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on His head, and they put on 
Him a purple robe, and said, Hail, King of the Jews ! and they smote 
Him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, 
Behold, I bring Him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in Him. 
Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And 
Pilute saith unto them, Behold the Man!— John xix, 2-5. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 443 

Darkness, the world, the flesh, spiritual sin, 

With such infectious stains thy soul defile, 
No earthly spring can wash thy conscience clean, 

The streams of Ganges, or the floods of Nile. 
The secret source of what in thee is vile 

Heaven's grace alone can fitly purge away ; 
Turn to thy Saviour then, in lowly style 

Ask for forgiveness ; all thy sins display ; 
Cling to the Cross in faith ; weep, tremble, praise, and pray. 

Verse 8, Canto XVIII. 



NAHUM TATE, 

Poet- Laureate of England. (1652-1715.) 




SONG OF THE ANGELS. 

HILE shepherds watched their flock by night, 
All seated on the ground, 
The angel of the Lord came down, 
And glory shone around. 

" Fear not," said He, for mighty dread 
Had seized their troubled mind ; 

" Glad tidings of great joy I bring 
To you and all mankind. 

" To you, in David's town this day 

Is born of David's line 
The Saviour, who is Christ, the Lord, 

And this shall be the sign : 

" The heavenly Babe you there shall find 

To human view displayed, 
All meanly wrapped in swaddling-bands, 

And in a manger laid." 

This spake the seraph, and forthwith 

Appeared a shining throng 
Of angels, praising God, who thus 

Addressed their joyful song : 

"All glory be to God on high, 

And to the earth be peace ; 
Good will henceforth from heaven to men 

Begin, and never cease. 



444 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

ARTHUR TAPPAN, 

Financier and Philanthropist. (1786-1865.) 

^N founding the " Richards professorship of Christian 
Theology" at Auburn Theological Seminary he took 
particular care against any theological perversion in 
this conditional clause: "It is my intention and de- 
sign in granting the said sum that the interest or income 
of said capital fund shall be annually applied to the support 
of a professor of Christian theology holding the theological 
sentiments and faith which are required by the ordinances of 
the seminary now in force ; and if at any time hereafter any 
professor on this foundation shall differ from the said system 
of faith, and especially if such professor shall not fully believe 
and teach the true and proper Divinity of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, the personality of the Holy Spirit, the total depravity 
of man in his natural state, and the eternal punishment of 
the wicked, then the founder of this professorship reserves to 
himself, his heirs, executors, and assigns, the right to re- 
claim and receive back the capital fund hereby granted." — 
In Addenda of "Life of Arthur Tappan" by his brother, Lewis 
Tappan. 

BAYARD TAYLOR, 

Poet, Diplomat, Author, and Traveler. (1825-1878.) 




JERUSALEM. 

HY strength, Jerusalem, is o'er, 
And broken are th} T walls ; 
The harp of Israel sounds no more 

In thy deserted halls. 
But where thy kings and prophets trod, 

Triumphant over death, 
Behold the living Son of God, 
The Christ of Nazareth ! 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 445 

The halo of His presence fills 

Thy courts, the ways of men ; 
His footsteps on thy holy hills 

Are beautiful as then. 
The prayer, whose bloody sweat betrayed 

His human agon} 7 , 
Still haunts the awful olive shade 

Of old Gethsemane. 

Woe unto thee, Jerusalem ! 

Slayer of prophets ; thou, 
That in thy fury stonest them 

God sent, and sends thee now. 
Where Thou, O Christ, with anguish spent, 

Forgav'st Thy foes and died ; 
Thy garments are daily rent, 

Thy soul is crucified ! 

Who shall rebuild Jerusalem ? 

Her scattered children bring 
From earth's fair ends, and gather them 

Beneath her sheltering wing ? 
For Judah's sceptre broken lies, 

And from his kingly stem 
No new Messiah shall arise 

For lost Jerusalem. 

But let the wild ass on her hills 

Its foal un frightened lead, 
And by the source of Kedron's rills 

The desert adder breed ; 
For where the love of Christ has made 

Its mansions in the heart, 
He builds in pomp that will not fade, 

Her heavenly counterpart. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TAYLOR, 

Poet and Author. (1819-1887.) 



THE GOSPEE FOR THE POOR. 

~N the Roman dungeon dying, 

Waiting there his day of doom, 
^ Faith bewildered, blinded, dying, 
John, the Baptist, lay in gloom. 



446 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

Honored he, the desert preacher, 

Over all the sons of God, 
He had laid the world's great Teacher 
Under Jordan's crystal flood ; 

And his arms the form had lifted 

Back to life and light again, 
That should bid the grave be rifted 

And give liberty to men. 

Grand old John, in heavy sorrow, 

Sent this last message out : 
"Art Thou the Christ ? " Then dawning morrow 

Banished every cloud of doubt. 

" Go tell the Baptist," quick replying, 
This the Master's answering word: 

" Blind men see the midnight flying, 
Lame men walk, the deaf have heard. 

" I^epers clean as lilies' daughters, 
Graves are rent and dead men live, 

Gospel free as flowing waters 

Preached to them with naught to give." 

So the Saviour crowned the story, 
Gave the poor His love sublime, 

Grandest proof of Gospel glory, 
Boundless blessing for all time, 

Everywhere, O heavy-hearted, 

Be ye girded, glad and strong! 
Dungeons lighted ! Doubt departed ! 
Pass the tidings right along. 



JAMES M. TAYLOR. 

Professor of Mathematics in Colgate University. 

^N the beginning God created the heaven and earth," is 
the most scientific account of creation on record. 
That there is a God who is Creator may transcend our 
power of comprehension; but that there is no God 
and no Creator violates our highest sense of reason, as well 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 447 

as our moral and religious nature. Our rational faculties no 
more require our acceptance of the mathematical axioms 
than does our religious nature demand the belief in a per- 
sonal God. 

" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with 
God, and the Word was God," is as essential a revelation to 
our moral and religious nature as the belief in a Creator is a 
necessary demand of our intellectual sense. The more fully 
we become developed and well-rounded men the more earnest 
is the demand of our higher nature for the truth and revela- 
tion of the Bible. That Christ is the Light, the Truth, the 
Revelation, and the Saviour to the world is the testimony of 
the most eminent and candid thinkers. 



ZACHARY TAYLOR, 

Twelfth President of the United States. (1784-1850.) 

BIBLE, beautifully bound with the Constitution of 
the United States, was presented to him by some 
ladies of Frankfort, Kentucky, February 14, 1849. 
He acknowledged their kindness in this language : 
" I accept with gratitude and pleasure your gift of this inesti- 
mable Volume. It was for the love of the truths of this great 
Book that our fathers abandoned their native shores for the 
wilderness. Animated by its lofty principles they toiled and 
suffered till the desert blossomed as the rose. The same 
truths sustained them in their resolutions to become a free 
nation; and guided by the wisdom of this Book they 
founded a government under which we have grown from 
three millions to more than twenty millions of people, and 




448 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

from being but a stock on the borders of this Continent we 
have spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific. I trust that 
their principles of liberty may extend, if without bloodshed, 
from the northern to the southern extremities of the Conti- 
nent. If there were in that Book nothing but its great pre- 
cept, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do 
unto you, do ye even so to them," and if that precept were 
obeyed, our government might extend over the whole Conti- 
nent. Accept, sir, my sincere thanks for the kind manner in 
which you have discharged this duty ; and expressing again 
my hearty gratitude to the ladies for their beautiful gift, I 
pray that health, peace, and prosperity may long be contin- 
ued to them." — Frankfort Commojiwealth, February 21, 1849. 



SIR RICHARD TEMPLE, 

Member of Parliament. 

/jvTVfeND, after all, what Book at this moment, even in this 
\lqV. busy, struggling land of England, creates so much 
ty (3° interest ? You all remember the day when the Re- 
vised Version of the New Testament came out. 
Was any Book ever sought within living memory with such 
avidity? Was there ever any Book of which so many hun- 
dred thousands of copies were circulated within a few hours ? 
No writer, no publisher, however famous or celebrated, could 
ever obtain for an uninspired book such a circulation as that 
which was obtained without the slightest effort at publica- 
tion, or issuing, in one day by the Revised Version of the 
Scriptures. Now, is not this an encouraging thing — an 
encouragement and a spring eternal of hope to us to try and 
spread this work among all those who believe and those who 
do not believe? To those to whom it has not yet been given 
to believe the Book it will constitute the most romantic 
and interesting of histories, the grandest of poetry, the most 
glowing of eloquence. But to me it does more. It gives 
us the one hope we have of something beyond the grave. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 449 

It is the Book which awakens in us the thought that we 
were not made to die. It is the Book that makes lis feel 
sure that we are not to perish like the beasts of the field, or 
the fowls of the air, or the trees of the forest, or the rocks of 
the mountain ; but that we are to have a blessed immortality, 
if truly, as was said by one of our latest philosophers, over 
each of our graves it may be written, " Obdormivit in Chris to" 
— " He fell asleep in Christ." — From the Bible Society 
Monthly Reporter, June 1889, London. 



SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE, 

English Statesman, Diplomat, and Author. (1628-1699.) 

rjfr^TOSES was instructed to know God more particularly, 
- jrL an d admitted both to see His glory and to learn His 
C>^> name, Jehovah, and to institute from heaven the 
whole religion of the Jews ; so the prophets, under 
the Old Testament, were taught to know the will of God, 
and thereby to instruct the people in it, and enabled to 
prophesy, and do miracles, for a testimony of their being 
truly sent from Heaven. So our blessed Saviour came into 
the world to show the will of His Father, to teach His pre- 
cepts and commands, and so His Apostles by the Holy 
Ghost, for the same ends. — Page 492, Volume III, of "The 
Works of Sir William Temple, Bart." 



SANBORN TENNEY, 

Naturalist and Educator. (1827-1877.) 

HIS truth, the great antiquity of the earth, so plainly 
taught in nature's own records, is one which has 
caused the science of geology to be looked upon with 
suspicion by those who believe the sacred Scriptures 
limit the age of the world to six thousand years. And this 
truth is often assailed as though it were the peculiar prop- 




450 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

erty of the geologist, while it is a truth which belongs to all 
mankind. It had not its origin with man, but with God. It 
was registered in enduring characters ere man was created. 
And I will not attempt to say whether it be worse to deny 
the truths which He has revealed in His Word, or those 
which he has revealed in His works. 

If such be the testimony of the rocks, we may safely aver 
that it is not contradicted by the Bible ; for have not the vol- 
ume of Nature and the volume of Inspiration the same great 
Author ? The greatest scholars of the present time are fully 
satisfied that the Scriptures do not fix the age of the earth ; 
and that the word which is translated "day" does not always 
mean a period of twenty-four hours, nor always even the 
same amount of time, as may be readily proved by referring 
to the different places where it is used. If we regard the six 
days mentioned in Genesis as representing successive long 
periods of time, the apparent difficulty disappears, and the 
records agree in all their essential features. — From his Text- 
Book on Geology, 1859. 




GEORGE HENRY THOMAS, 

Federal Major-General. (1816-1870.) 

B was a firm believer in the Christian religion, and, 
especially in the last few years of his life, felt the 
obligation and the paramount importance to its bib- 
lical precepts, and a public profession of his faith, 
near the close of his life, was only prevented by the arrange- 
ments which had crowded upon him before the time ap- 
pointed for this step. . . . He once said that he did not 
see how anyone could be an infidel, and then discoursed at 
length on the profound and mysterious doctrines of Christ. 
. . . In integrity of character, in purity of life, in firm- 
ness of faith, he exemplified in his daily life the teachings 
of the Divine Founder of Christianity. — Pages 459 and 460, 
"The Life of Major- General George H. Thomas," by Thomas 
B. Van Home, U. S. A. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



451 



ALFRED TENNYSON, 

English Poet-Laureate. (1809-1892.) 





FROM "MAUD." 

H, Christ, that it were possible 
For one short hour to see 
The souls we loved, that they might tell us 
What and where thev be. 



FROM "IN MEMORIAM." 
Ring in the valiant man and free, 
The larger heart, the kindlier hand ; 
Ring out the darkness of the land, 
Ring in the Christ that is to be. 



FROM " IN GRIEF." 
Strong Son of God ! immortal Love, 
Whom we, that have not seen Thy face, 
By faith, and faith alone, embrace, 
Believing where we can not prove ! 

Thine are these orbs of light and shade ; 

Thou madest life in man and brute ; 

Thou madest Death; and lo, Thy foot 
Is on the skull which Thou hast made ! 

Thou wilt not leave us in the dust ; 

Thou madest man, he knows not why; 

He thinks he was not made to die ; 
And Thou hast made Him : Thou art just. 



45 2 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

Thou seemest human and Divine, 
The highest, holiest manhood, Thou ; 
Our wills are ours, we know not how 

Our wills are ours to make them Thine. 



LAZARUS. 



When Lazarus left his charnel-cave, 
And home to Mary's house returned, 
Was this demanded — if he j T earned 

To hear her weeping by his grave ? 

" Where wert thou, brother, those four days ? " 

There lives no record of reply, 

Which, telling what it is to die, 
Had surely added praise to praise. 

From every house the neighbors met, 
The streets were filled with joyful sound ; 
A solemn gladness even crowned 

The purple brows of Olivet. 

Behold a man raised up by Christ ; 

The rest remaineth unrevealed ; 

He told it not, or something sealed 
The lips of that Evangelist. 



Her eyes are homes of silent prayer, 
Nor other thought her mind admits ; 
But he was dead, and there he sits, 

And He that brought him back is there. 

Then one deep love doth supersede 
All other, when her ardent gaze 
Roves from the living brother's face, 

And rests upon the Life indeed. 

All subtile thought, all curious fears, 
Borne down by gladness so complete ; 
She bows, she bathes the Saviour's feet 

With costly spikenard and with tears. 

Thrice blest whose lives are faithful prayers, 
Whose loves in higher love endure ; 
Whose souls possess themselves so pure, 

Or is there blessedness like theirs ? 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 453 

THE UNITED STATES A CHRISTIAN 

NATION. 

ITHOUT dissent, March 3, 1863, the United States 
Senate passed this resolution : "Resolved, That de- 
voutly recognizing the supreme authority and just 
government of Almighty God in all the affairs of 
men and nations, and sincerely believing that no people, 
however great in numbers and resources, or however strong 
in the justness of their cause, can prosper without His 
favor, and at the same time deploring the national offenses 
which have provoked His righteous judgment, yet encour- 
aged in this day of trouble by the assurance of His Word, to 
seek Him for succor according to His appointed way, through 
Jesus Christ, the Senate of the United States do hereby re- 
quest the President of the United States, by his proclama- 
tion, to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and 
humiliation." — Congressional Globe, third session of the 
Thirty- Seventh Congress, pages 1448 and 1501. 

In accord with the above resolution, President Lincoln, 
March 30th, issued his proclamation. The following pas- 
sages are quoted : " Whereas, It is the duty of nations, as 
well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overrul- 
ing power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in 
humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repent- 
ance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the 
sublime truth announced by the Holy Scriptures, and proven 
by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God 
is the Lord ; and inasmuch as we know that, by His divine 
law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments 
and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that 
the awful calamity of civil war, which now Hesolates the 
land, may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our pre- 
sumptuous sins to the needful end of our national reforma- 
tion as a whole people. . . . Intoxicated with unbroken 
success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the neces- 



454 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



sity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to the 
God that made us." 





WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERY, 

English Novelist. (1811-1863.) 

IS biographer re- 
marks : " From the 
story of his last part- 
ing with his friend, 
Mr. Synge, I prefer again to 
quote the latter's account to 
me textually : 'Just before 
we sailed from the Sandwich 
Islands, and when I was 
staying in Thackery's home 
at Palace Green, my host 
and I met one day in the 
library. He said : "I want 
to tell you that I shall never see you again. I feel that I am 
doomed. I know that will grieve you, but look in that book, 
and you will find something that I am sure will please and 
comfort you." I took from the shelf the book that he 
pointed out ; out of it fell a piece of paper in which Thack- 
ery had written a prayer, all of which I do not pretend to 
remember. I only know that he prayed that he might never 
write a word inconsistent with the love of God or the love 
of man ; that he might never propagate his prejudices, or 
pander to those of others ; that he might always speak the 
truth with his pen, and that he might never be actuated by 
a love of greed. I particularly remember that the prayer 
wound up with the words : ' For the sake of Jesus Christ, 
our Lord.' " — "Life of Thackery" by Herman T. Merivale and 
Frank T. Marzials. 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 455 

THE DECLARATION OF EIGHT HUNDRED 

SCIENTISTS OF GREAT 

BRITAIN.* 

E, the undersigned, Students of the Natural Sci- 
ences, desire to express our sincere regret that 
researches into scientific truth are perverted by 
some in our own times into occasion for casting 
doubt upon the truth and authenticity of the Holy Scrip- 
tures. We conceive that it is impossible for the Word of God, 
as written in the book of nature, and God's Word written in 
Holy Scripture, to contradict one another, however much 
they may appear to differ. We are not forgetful that Phys- 
ical Science is not complete, but is only in a condition of 
progress, and that at present our finite reason enables us 
only to see as through a glass darkly ; and we confidently 
believe that a time will come when the two records will be 
seen to agree in every particular. We can not but deplore 
that Natural Science should be looked upon with suspicion 
by many who do not make a study of it, merely on account 
of the unadvised manner in which some are placing it in 
opposition to Holy Writ. We believe that it is the duty of 
every Scientific Student to investigate nature simply for the 
purpose of elucidating truth, and that if he finds that some 
of his results appear to be in contradiction to the Written 
Word, or rather to his own interpretations of it, which may 
be erroneous, he should not presumptuously affirm that his 
own conclusions must be right, and the Statements of Scrip- 

*The original copy of this interesting document is now in the Bodelian 
Library, Oxford, England — the largest library in the world. It was signed 
by eight hundred representative scientists. Doubtless it would have 
been gratifying to the reader to know the names of the remainder, but val- 
uable space forbade their publication here. A sufficient number, however, 
of signatures has been appended to reveal the general character and 
scholastic standing of the entire body. Honorary degrees, an exception to 
the rule of the book, as stated on page 1, is made in this testimony. I 
am under special obligation to the Bodelian Librarian for transcribing 
this important declaration. S. A. N. 



456 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

ture wrong; rather, leave the two side by side till it shall 
please God to allow us to see the manner in which they 
may be reconciled; and, instead of insisting upon the seem- 
ing differences between Science and the Scriptures, it would 
be as well to rest in faith upon the points in which they 
agree. 
Thomas Anderson, M. D., F. K. S. E., etc., Professor of 

Chemistry in the University of Glasgow. 
Richard Austin, M. D., M. R. C. S., late Professor of Ma- 
teria Medica in the School of Medicine of the Apoth- 
ecaries' Society, Ireland. 
A. B. Becher, R. N., F. R. A. S., F. G. S., First Naval As- 
sistant, Hydrog. Office, Admiralty. 
Thomas Bell, F. R. S., F. G. S., late Pres. L. S., Acad., Soc. 
Hist. Nat. et Philom., Paris.; Acad. Sc, Philad. ; Soc. 
Hist. Nat. Bost. et Lt. et Sc. ; Hung. Corresp. ; Professor 
of Zoology in King's College, London. 
William Clark, M. D., F. R. S., F. G. S., Professor of Anat- 
omy in the University of Cambridge. 
Arthur Scott Donkin, M. D. Edin., M. D. Dun., L. R. C. 
S. E., Lecturer on Medical Jurisprudence in the Univer- 
sity of Durham, etc. 
Patrick Fraser, M. D., L. R. C. P., L. R. C. S. E., etc., Sen- 
ior Professor to the London Hospital, Physician Extra- 
ordinary to the late Queen of Portugal; Staff Physician 
in the Crimea, and in the War of Restoration in Por^ 
tugal. 
John C. Hale, F. R. A. S., etc., Surveyor and Superintend- 
ent of the Meteorological Department, Local Govern- 
ment Office, Whitehall. 
George Johnson, M. D., F. R. C. P., etc., Professor of 
Medicine in King's College, London, Physician to King's 
College Hospital, etc. 
George H. B. Macleod, M. D., F. R. C. S. E., F. F. P. S. 
Glas., Mem. Corr. de la Soc. de Chir. de Paris, Mem. 
Paris Med. Society, etc., Lecturer on Surgery in Ander- 
son's University, Glasgow, late Senior Surgeon Civil 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 457 

Hospital, Smyrna, and General Hospital in Camp be- 
fore Sebastopol, etc. 

John B. Melsom, M. A., M. D., Cant, F. C. P. S., J. P., 
Corr. Mem. Phil. Soc. Basle, etc., late Professor of Nat- 
ural and Experimental Philosophy and Clinical Med- 
icine in Queen's College, Birmingham. 

E. Renerier, Memb. de la Soc. Vaud. des Sci. Nat., Memb. 
de la Soc. Helvet. des Sci. Nat., Memb. de la Soc. 
Geolog. de France, Professor of Geology, Mineralogy, 
and Paleontology in the Academy of Lausanne. 

Adam Sedgwick, M. A., D. C. L., F. R. S., Hon. M. R. I. 
A., F. G. S., F. R. A. S., etc., Inst. Imp. Acad. Sci. 
Paris Correspondence, Fellow of Trinity College, and 
Woodwarden Professor of Geology in the University of 
Cambridge. 

John Stenhouse, LL.D., F. R. S., F. C. S., late Professor 
of Chemistry at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, Assayer to 
the Royal Mint. 

G. J. Symons, Memb. Counc. Brit. Met. Soc, Memb. Scot. 
Met. Soc, Reporter on Rainfall to the British Associa- 
tion. 

John Wilson, M. D., F. R. S., F. L. S., Inspector General 
of Hospitals, Hon. Physician to the Queen. 

Sir David Brewster, K. H., LL.D , D. C.L., F. R. S., V. 
P.R. S. E., Hon. M.R.I. A. et Phil. Soc Cam., F. G. 
S., F. R. A. S., M. A., M. D. (Jena), Ord. Boruss. "Pour 
le Merite " Eq., Officer of the Legion of Honor, Inst., 
Imp. Par. (Acad. Sci.) Assoc, Acadd. Sci. Imp. et Reg. 
Petrop. Berol. Brux. Gotting., Hafn. Soc Harlem, Holm. 
Ludg. Gall. Monach., Soc. Im., Nat. Mosq. et Inst. Venet. 
Corr., Acad, aut Soc. Erlang. Flor., Traj.-Franc Rhen.- 
Traj., Soc. Antiq. Noom. Soc. Scand. Nat., Inst. Nat. 
Wash. Lye, Nat. Hist. Nov.-Ebor., Acad. Sci. Bost. et 
Philad., Soc. Antiq. Amer. et Lit. et Hist. Soc. Quebec, 
et Cape Town, Soc. Honor., Principal and Vice Chan- 
cellor of the University of Edinburg. 



45^ A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

CHARLES THOMSON, 

Patriot, and Secretary of the First Continental Congress, 1 774-1789. 

(1729-1824.) 

N 1815 he published "A Synopsis of the Four Evan- 
gelists, or a regular history of the Conception, Birth, 
Doctrine, Miracles, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension 
of Jesus Christ, in the words of the Evangelists." — Page 
97, Volume VI, " Appletoii* s American Cyclopedia." 

In the Preface of the book just mentioned he wrote : u To 
undertake a new harmony of the Gospels, after the many 
made, might seem an attempt at vanity, did not the more 
numerous harmonies in the last two centuries show, one af- 
ter another, that those which preceded had not given satis- 
faction. How I have suceeded is now submitted to the judg- 
ment of the candid reader. For my own part, I have the 
satisfaction to think assuredly that, on a full and fair exam- 
ination, it will be found that the Evangelists are neither in- 
consistent, nor do they contradict one another ; but that, on 
the contrary, they mutually elucidate, support, and confirm 
one another's narration." 




JAMES THOMPSON, 

Scottish Poet. ^1700-1748.) 



Y refuge and consolation is in philosophy — Christian 
..YJL philosophy — which I heartily wish you may yet be a 
disciple of, as well as myself. Indeed, my dear 
friend, it is far above the Platonic. I have sent you a 
pamphlet upon a subject relative to it, which we have for- 
merly talked of. I writ it last year, and I writ it with a 
particular view to your satisfaction. You have, therefore, a 
double right to it, and I wish to God it might appear to you 
as convincing as it does to me, and bring you to add the 
faith to the heart of the Christian. — Philimore's Memoirs 
and Correspondence of George Lytleton, Volume /, page 307. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 459 

A PASTORAL. 

ANGEL GABRIEL. 

Rejoice, ye swains, anticipate the morn 

With songs of praise ; for lo, a Saviour's born. 

With joyful haste to Bethlehem repair, 

And you will find the Almighty infant there; 

Wrapped in a swaddling-band you'll see your King, 

And in a manger laid ; to Him your praises bring. 



DAVID. 

No more the year shall wintry horrors bring ; 
Fixed in the indulgence of eternal spring, 
Immortal green shall clothe the hills and vales, 
And odorous sweets shall load the balmy gales ; 
The silver brooks shall in soft murmurs tell 
The joy that oozy channels swell. 
Feed on. my flocks, and crop the tender grass ; 
Let blooming jo} r appear on every face ; 
For lo ! this blessed, this propitious morn, 
The Saviour of lost mankind was born. 



WILLIAM M. THORNTON, 

President of the University of Virginia. 

FULLY believe in the Divinity of Christ, and the In- 
spiration of the Bible. My hopes for the spread of the 
spirit of Jesus among men, for the establishment of the 
ideals of the Bible as the ideals of humanity, are based 
upon other grounds than the sacerdotal tradition and eccles- 
iastical dogmatism. My hope is that when a sober and rever- 
ent criticism has stripped from the doctrine of the Bible all 
that is transitory and non-essential, and revealed this doctrine 
in its intrinsic power and Divine spirit, man may approach 
God more freely by the roads of love and liberty, purity and 
peace. I believe that it is the duty of all men to strive to 
make this approach easier for themselves and others by 
dwelling on the spirit rather than on the letter, and by an 
individual revolt against every form of sectarian narrowness 
and churchly bigotry. And I look for success from this 
practical striving rather than from much speaking and much 



460 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 




SIR WILLIAM THOMPSON, 

(LORD KELVIN.) 

Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Glasgow. 

Y primary reason for 
accepting the invita- 
^vT? tion to preside was 
that I wished to show 
sympathy with this great 
Society which has been es- 
tablished for the purpose of 
defending Christianity as a 
Divine Revelation. I also 
thought something was due 
from Science. I have long 
felt that there was a general 
impression in the non-scien- 
tific world that the scientific 
world believes Science has 
discovered ways of explain- 
ing all the facts of nature without adopting any definite 
belief in a Creator. I have never doubted that that im- 
pression was utterly groundless. It seems to me that when 
a scientific man says — as it has been said from time to 
time — that there is no God, he does not express his own 
ideas clearly. He is, perhaps, struggling with difficulties; 
but when he says that he does not believe in a creative 
power I am convinced he does not faithfully express what 
is in his mind. He is out of his depth. ... I may 
refer to that old but never uninteresting subject of the mir- 
acles of geology. Physical Science does something for us 
here. Peter speaks of scoffers who said that "all things 
continue as they were from the beginning," but the Apostle 
affirms himself that "all these things shall be dissolved." 
It seems to me that even physical science absolutely dem- 




<> 




THIS WAS THE SON OF GOD. 



JESUS, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. . . . 
Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the 
earthquake and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was 
the son of God! — Matthew xxvii, 50, 54. Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus, 
His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 
— John xix, 2=; 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 461 

onstrates the scientific truth of these words. We feel that 
there is no possibility of things going on forever as they 
have done for the last six thousand years. In science, as 
in morals and politics, there is absolutely no periodicity. — 
From his address as Chairman of " The Christian Evidence 
Society" London, at its Nineteenth Anniversary ', May 23, 
1889. 

JOHN MELLEN THURSTON, 

General Attorney of the Union Pacific Railroad. 

>iVWYERS are the students of Jurisprudence. Juris- 
prudence is the science of law. Religion is the 

^o Jurisprudence of Divine law. The Divine law of 
Christianity is based upon three essential beliefs : 
First, the existence and unity of God ; second, the immor- 
tality of man ; third, the divinity of Jesus Christ, and His 
atonement. 

The divinity of Christ, and His power of mediation with 
the Father are not matters of exact demonstration, and must 
be accepted by the human soul entirely on faith ; but the 
promise is so great, the hope is so sweet, it costs so little to 
be safe, that a man is a fool indeed if he hesitates to accept 
in its utmost fullness the Divine doctrine of love as taught 
by the lowly Nazarene ; and, indeed, when we are once con- 
vinced of the existence of a God and our own immortality, 
the mission of the Saviour seems to follow so naturally, 
seems so worthy of the infinite love and power of man's 
Creator, that our belief in the Father extends to the Son. 

Nearly all great lawyers accept, almost as a matter of 
course, the truths of Christianity. They are also believers in 
the mediation of Jesus Christ, as they can appreciate in all 
its fullness the divinity of the law which accepts repentance 
and belief as full atonement for its violation. They receive 
Christianity without question because of the comprehension 
and simplicity of their minds. Quibbling, uncertainty, and 
hesitation are the characteristics of inferior intellects. Moses, 



462 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

the law-giver, is only second to Christ, the Saviour. Who 
can read the unparalleled story of his wonderful life without 
believing that he was, indeed, annointed of God ; raised up 
for the accomplishment of his great mission, inspired and 
directed by the Divine will. An eloquent mimic of the great 
skeptics of past generations has painted a beautiful word 
picture of the sweet peace and eternal rest which comes to 
man when " death ends all." But it is only a picture which 
fades away before the ghastly horror of its serious contem- 
plation. If it were given me, of all living men, to know 
of absolute certainty that death does end all, I would tear 
my tongue out by the roots, and go down to the grave in 
silence rather than reveal to a Christian world a secret so 
damning that it would overturn governments, disorganize 
society, destroy morality, brutalize mankind, and make life a 
curse. It is not true ; death does not end all. The great 
truths of the Christian religion are self-evident. There is a 
God, Creator, Father, Saviour, Judge. Man is immortal. 

"A voice within us speaks the startling word : 
' Man, thou shalt never die ! ' Celestial voices 
Hymn it round our souls ; according harps, 
By angel fingers touched, when the mild stars 
Of morning sang together, sound forth still 
The song of our great immortality." 

Christ was Divine. His mission is fulfilled. His atonement 
saved a believing world. The parting by the river of death 
is not forever ; there is a shore beyond. Those whom we 
have loved and lost a while we shall see again. 

" God keeps a niche 
In heaven for our idols ; and though He 
Break them from our sight, and deny 
That our soft kisses should impair their white 
Yet I know that we shall see them again, 
The dust swept from their faces, glorified, 
Singing in the great God-light." 




o^Vuaj-^ ^ 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 463 

SIR SAMUEL LEONARD TILLEY, 

Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. 

.OR more than fifty years, I have been a subscriber to 
^ ^ ^ one of the auxiliaries of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society, and for a like period have recognized the 
all-sufficiency of the great atonement made by our 
Lord and Saviour on the Cross. I cheerfully give my testi- 
mony to the value and inspiration of the Book of books. 
Dark, indeed, would be this world without Christ's death 
and resurrection, and the hope of glory. 






T. T. TIMAYENIS, 

Greek Historian. 



XTCH was Hellenism in the East at and after the in- 
carnate Christ was made known. As Alexander the 
Great, three centuries and a half before, raising the 
flag of Hellenism, had marched from Macedonia to 
the conquest of the Bast, so the Christian religion, assuming 
the panoply of the Hellenic tongue, argument, and admini- 
stration, sallied forth from Palestine for the subjugation of 
the West. 

The truth disclosed by our Saviour is the work of Divine 
Providence, while Hellenism only aided the work by Hel- 
lenizing the multitudes, and thus preparing them for the ac- 
ceptance and understanding of the one and true God. . . . 
For, indeed, how many difficulties and obstacles would Chris- 
tianity have encountered without the assistance of Hellen- 
ism ? The Gospel would have been preached in the Hebrew, 
and not only was that tongue unknown beyond Jordan, but 
in Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Asia Minor, Thrace, and Hel- 
ios various dialects and tongues prevailed into which the 



464 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

Word of God would have had to be as many times translated. 
Again, the Gospel needed not merely to be preached, but 
also to be explained ; it needed a language able to develop 
its lofty truths — a tongue in every respect complete, fur- 
nished, and philosophical. Hellenism, therefore, not only 
prepared the way for success, but it also furnished to the 
new religion the most artistic of linguistic tongues that ever 
God gave to man, and, through its alliance with Christianity, 
long preserved its historic claim and the rank which, to this 
day, it holds in the East. — Pages 282 and 283, 256 and 257, 
Volume II, " History of Greece" by T. T. Timayenis. 




ALEXIS CHARLES HENRY CLEREL 
TOCQUEVILLE, 

French Statesman and Political Writer. (1805-1859.) 

HRISTIANITY is the companion of liberty in all its 
conflicts — the cradle of its infancy and the Divine 
source of its claims. 
Christianity has, therefore, retained a strong hold on 
the public mind in America; and I would now particularly 
remark that its sway is not only that of philosophical doc- 
trine which has been adopted upon inquiry, but of a religion 
which is believed without discussion. 

Mohammed professed to derive from Heaven, and he has 
inserted in the Koran, not only a body of religious doctrines, 
but political maxims, civil and criminal laws, and theories of 
science. The Gospel, on the contrary, only speaks of the 
general relations of men to God and to each other — beyond 
which it inculcates and imposes no point of faith. This 
alone, besides a thousand other reasons, would suffice to 
prove that the former of these religions will never predomi- 
nate in a cultured and democratic age, whilst the latter is 
destined to retain its sway at these and all other periods. — ■ 
Volume III, u Democracy in America" 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 465 

COUNT LEON N. TOLSTOI, 

Russian Novelist. 

HAVE always been possessed of the religious ideas set 
forth in this book. For thirty-five years of my life, 
in the proper acceptation of the word, a nihilist — not 
a revolutionary socialist, but a man who believed 
nothing. Five years ago, faith came to me ; I believed the 
doctrine of Jesus, and my whole life underwent a sudden 
transformation. What I once wished for, I wished for no 
longer, and I began to desire what I never desired before. 
My life and my desires were completely changed; good and 
evil interchanged meanings. Why so? Because I under- 
stood the doctrine of Jesus in a different way from that 
which I had formerly understood. The thief on the cross 
believed in Christ, and was saved. Like the thief on the 
cross I believed in the doctrine of Jesus, and that belief has 
made me whole. ... I understood nothing of this life ; 
it seemed to me to be a frightful thing, and then — I under- 
stood the words of Jesus Christ, and life and death ceased to 
be evil; instead of despair, I tasted joy and happiness, that 
death could not take away. — See introduction to his book, 
u My Religion.^ 



JOHN GRAY TOUCH 

Lieutenant-General of England. 



} ~>OR the last forty-seven years Jesus Christ has been to 

) A me the only Saviour in whom we can trust for our sal- 

^-^j vation; His righteousness in the sinner's absolute 

helplessness is all-sufficient under the Everlasting 



Covenant ; His love and faithfulness the sources of strength, 
■comfort, and joy in every difficulty and trial — " all my salva- 
tion and all my desire." 

The Bible is the word of God, "a lamp unto my feet, and 
alight unto my path," a safe counselor and a sure guide un- 



466 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

der all circumstances ; meeting every want of the soul and 
every emergency of life — the only standard of truth, and an 
authority against which there can be no appeal. I can bear 
testimony to the infinite value of Christ and the Bible in 
their adaptability to the most enlightened, as well as de- 
graded races. 

FREDRICK TOWNSEND, 

Brigadier-General. 

HE injunctions and instructions of a devoted mother, 
whose text-book was the Bible, enjoined and im- 
parted " in season, and out of season ; here a little* 
and there a little," as she used to say, have generally 
kept me walking "in the fear of the Lord" ; and with the 
light of the open Bible have brought me long since to a 
daily realization of " the truth as it is in Jesus." 



J AcxeL 





ANTHONY TROLLOPE 

(? English Novelist. (1851-1882.) 

P) 

N his delineation of "A Low-Church Chaplain" in " Bar- 
chester Towers," these passages occur: "The 'dese- 
cration of the Sabbath,' as he delights to call it, is to 
him meat and drink. It is the loved subject of all his 
evening discourses, the source of all his eloquence, the secret 
of all his power. To him the Revelation of God appears 
only in that one law given for Jewish observance. To him 
the mercy of our Saviour speaks in vain. To him in vain 
has been preached that sermon which fell from Divine lips 
on the mountain : ' Blessed are the meek, for they shall in- 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 467 

herit the earth ' ; ' Blessed are the merciful, for they shall 
obtain mercy.' To him the New Testament is compara- 
tively of little moment, for from it he can draw no fresh 
authority for that dominion which he loves to exercise over 
at least a seventh part of man's allotted time here below." 




JONATHAN TRUMBULL,* 

Colonial Statesman; Governor of Connecticut, 1769-1783. * 
(1710-1785.) 

JiE Bible was more than ever his companion, and its 
grand teachings were enhanced to him by reading 
them in Greek and Hebrew. — Page 106, Volume I y 
"National Portrait Gallery of Eminent Americans" 
by Everet Ditychinck. 

Governor Trumbull sent out this appeal during the Revo- 
lution: "In this day of calamity, to trust altogether to the 
justice of our cause, without our utmost exertion, w T ould be 
tempting Providence. . . . March on! — this shall be your 
warrant: Play the man for God, and for the cities of our God. 
May the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, be 
your Captain, your Leader, your Conductor, and Saviour." — 
See his "Life" by Isaac W. Stnart. 



JOHN RANDOLPH TUCKER., 

Dean of Law School in Washington and Lee University. 

AM requested to give my personal conviction respect- 
ing Christ and the Bible. I believe this inspired 
Book contains the will of God for man's salvation 
and moral development ; and that Jesus Christ is the 
Word made flesh — the Incarnate God — sent into the world 
to redeem humanity from sin; "that whosoever believeth in 

" :i: 'The epithet "Brother Jonathan," often quoted as a personification of 
the United States, originated with Washington, who, when perplexed, was 
wont to use this expression : " Let us hear what Brother Jonathan says." 



468 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

Him should not perish, but have everlasting life ;" " neither 
is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name 
given among men, whereby we must be saved." 




MARTIN FARQUHAR TUPPER, 

English Poet and Author. 




IN PRAISE OF HIS WORD. 

HE Scriptures have a might and magnificence all their own ! 
How comforting are its promises, how precious its precepts ! 
How wise and kind and pure and good its influence on the soul ! 
How strong its hold upon the heart, its power within the mind 



A HYMN FOR AEL NATIONS. 

Written for the World's Fair of 185 1, and translated at that time 
into thirty languages. 

Glorious God ! on Thee we call, 
Father, Friend, and Judge of all ; 
Holy Saviour, Heavenly King, 
Homage to Thy throne we bring ! 

In the wonders all around 
Ever is Thy Spirit found, 
And of each good thing we see 
All the good is born of Thee ! 

Thine the beauteous skill that lurks 
Everywhere in nature's works ; 
Thine is art, with all its worth, 
Thine each masterpiece on earth ! 

Yea, and foremost in the van 
Springs from Thee the mind of man ; 
On its light, for this is Thine, 
Shed abroad the love divine ! 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



469 



Lo, our God ! Thy children here 

From all realms are gathered near ; 

Wisely gathered, gathering still, 

For " peace on earth, towards men good- will ! " 

May we, with fraternal mind, 
Bless our brothers of mankind ! 
May we, through redeeming love, 
Be the blest abode of God above ! 



JOHN TYLER, 




Tenth President of the United States. (1790-1862,) 



■H ROUGH the 

kindness of his 
son, President Ty- 
ler, of the College 
of William and Mary, and 
biographer, this informa- 
tion was furnished: "It 
was comforting to know 
that the great work of 
eternity had not been neg- 
lected. His gifted mind 
held fast, as a foundation 
of its faith and hope, to 
the oracles of God. He 
was long accustomed to 
meditate on things of eter- 
nity. And when, a few 

years ago, he was prostrated by sickness, and the idea of ap- 
proaching dissolution, the testimony of the pastor, whose 
services he was so fond of attending in that church he had 
so reverently joined, showed the brightness of the Christian 
faith in which he died." 





47° A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

SHARON TURNER, 

English Historian. (1768-1847.) 

"T must be, therefore, an essential principle of the soul's 
vital nature, that no prolongation of its conscious exist- 
ence shall anywhere injure it, if it has been created to 
be a resident in an everlasting kingdom. But on this 
fact of its future eternity the whole system of our Divine Rev- 
elation has been based. We die here to rise to immortal life 
from the death we undergo. To procure and insure this 
blessing to us our Saviour came to earth, taught, lived, and 
suffered, as our Christian records state ; and His resurrection 
from His Judean tomb has been declared to be, and to be 
meant to be, the pledge and representation, and assurance of 
our own. . . . The sacred history of the world, its plan, 
the Divine purpose in human life, the great truth and pros- 
pect revealed to us by our Saviour, seem to be founded on the 
two great principles of our intellectual nature — its immortal- 
ity and improvability. — Page 250, Vohime III, "Turner's 
Sacred History," in Family Library Series. 



ALEXANDER FRASER TYTLER, 

Scottish Jurist and Historian. (1747-1813.) 

a>7V</> THOROUGH acquaintance with the history of the 
^£n\_ world and the state of mankind at the time of our 
c / \Q}° Saviour's birth has led the wisest and most enlight- 
ened inquirers to conclude that the Almighty, hav- 
ing designed to illuminate the world by Revelation, there was 
no period at which it was more certainly required than that 
in which it was actually sent ; nor could any occurrence of 
circumstances have been more favorable for its extensive dis- 
semination than that which took place at the time of our 
Saviour's mission. A great part of the known world was 
at this time under the dominion of the Romans, and subject 
to all those grievances which are the inevitable result of a 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 47 1 

system of arbitrary power. Yet this circumstance of the 
union of so many nations into one great empire was of con- 
siderable advantage for the propagation and advancement of 
Christianity. . . . About the middle of the second cen- 
tury we find the books of the New Testament had been col- 
lected under one volume, and were received as a canon of 
faith in all the Christian churches. This selection of the 
inspired books from the compositions of so many teachers of 
Christianity, who had written in imitation of their styles and 
had recorded the acts of our Saviour, is supposed to have 
been made by some of the early Fathers of the Church. — 
"Ty tier's Universal History '," Book V ) Chapter IV. 




SIR HENRY VANE, 

English Republican Statesman, and Governor of Massachusetts. 
(1612-1662.) 

HEY that press so earnestly to carry on my trial do 
little know what the presence of God may be afforded 
me in it, and issue out of it to the magnifying of 
Christ in my body, by life or by death. Nor can 
they, I am sure, imagine how much I desire to be dissolved 
and be with Christ, which of all things which can befall me 
I account the best. — "Knighfs England" Volume IV, Chap- 
ter XVI, Page 260. 

As the present storm we now lie under, and the dark 
clouds that yet hang over the Reformed Churches of Christ, 
which are coming thicker and faster, so the coming of Jesus 
Christ in these clouds in order to a speedy and sudden re- 
vival of His cause, and spread of His kingdom over the face 
of the whole earth, is most clear to the eye of faith, even the 
faith in which I die, whereby the kingdoms of this world 
shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, 
Amen! Even so come, Lord Jesus! — Page 293, "Library 
of American Biography" by Jacob Sparks. 



47 2 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JOHANN LUDWIG UHLAND, 

German Lyric Poet. (1787-1862.) 



HEAVEN. 
FOR THE BEREAVED. 

RIEND, thou must trust in Him who trod before 

The desolate paths of life ; 
Must bear in meekness as He meekly bore, 

Sorrow, and pain, and strife ! 
Think how the Son of God 
These thorny paths has trod ; 
Think how He longed to go, 
Yet tarried out for thee the appointed woe ; 
Think of His weariness in places dim, 
Where no man comforted or cared for Him ! 
Think of the blood-like sweat 
With which His brow was wet, 
Yet how He prayed, unaided and alone, 
In that great agony, " Thy will be done ! " 
Friend, do not thou despair, 
Christ from heaven of heavens will hear thy prayer. 




JOHN HENRY UPSHUR, 

Rear-Admiral of the United States Navy. 

HIL/B your question of my opinion of u Christ and 
the Bible" may seem a little strange when put to 
a layman, it is one which, I think, every intelli- 
gent being should be competent and willing to 
give an answer to, however brief. I have never had a doubt 
of the existence and Divinity of Jesus Christ, and have always 
believed that the sacred and inspired Scriptures, especially 
those treating of His coming, His life and ministry on earth, 
with its plan of salvation, and lessons of human as well as 
God-like sufferings and death, offer a compass and chart 
to every voyager by land and sea who is not faithless, and 
thus in death secure to him a safe anchorage in eternity. 



V 

' 





i 




6 








PRESIDENTS AMD 


PROFESSORS OF 


UNIVERSITIES. 


Franklin Carter, 


Merrill E. Gates, 


Page j 5 . 

Edward Olney, 


Page 167. 

Lewis Swift, 


Page 344. 

David S. Jordan, 


Page 441. 

Joseph Le Conte, 


Page 260. 


Page 278. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



473 




"The 
Jesus 



MARTIN VAN BUREN, 

Eighth President of the United States. (1782-1862.) 

URING his 

last illness 

he made this 

confession : 
atonement of 
Christ is the 
only remedy and rest 
for my soul." 

On the threshold 
of his official relations 
as President, he de- 
clared: " I only look 
to the gracious pro- 
tection of that Divine 
Being whose strength- 
ening support I hum- 
bly solicit, and whom 
I fervently pray to 
look down upon us all. May it be among the dispensations 
of His Providence to bless our beloved country with honors 
and length of days ; may her ways be ways of pleasantness, 
and all her paths peace." 




CORNELIUS VANDERBILT, 

Financier and Philanthropist. (1794-1877.) 

^AR Doctor, you have never crowded your religion 
on me, but you have been faithful to me. Say to 
all men that you did not have the slightest influ- 
ence in the world in persuading me to believe the 
that you could not, nor all the angels, nor ministers, 
for I never had a minute when I did not believe it was the 
Word of God. — Page 146, "Pulpit and the Grave" 




Bible 




474 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

NICHOLAS VANSITTART, 

(LORD BEXLEY,) 

Member of Parliament. (1766-1851.) 

)ET it not be forgotten that countries both within and 
far beyond the limits of Christendom are looking to 
^ British Christians to furnish them with the rich treas- 
ure of God's written Word. Let it be known that our 
resources are not adequate to meet the exigencies of the 
times, and that its income does not keep pace with its in- 
creasing expenditures. Let it be remembered how deeply 
Britian is indebted, under God, to the Bible, for its many 
social, political, and religious advantages. Let these things 
be bourne in mind, as furnishing this moment a call in Prov- 
idence distinct and imperative ; a call to individual and com- 
bined exertion not unaccompanied with prayer ; and let our 
efforts never cease until the Bible is everywhere exalted to 
its true position, and the teachings of fallible men univer- 
sally give place to the "true sayings of God." — Bible Society 
Reporter, December, 1891. 



HENRY VAUGHAN, 

English Poet. (1621-1695.) 



PEACE. 

"Y soul, there is a Countrie 
= ^YiL Far beyond the stars, 
<^? Where stands a winged centrie 
All skillful in the wars. 
There above noise and danger 

Sweet peace is crowned with smiles, 
And ONE born in a manger 

Commands the beauteous files. 
He is thy gracious Friend, 

And (O my soul, awake !) 
Did in pure love descend 
To die here for thy sake. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 475 

If thou canst get but thither, 

There grows the flowre of Peace, 
The rose that can not wither, 

Thy fortresse, and thy ease. 
Leave thou thy foolish ranges, 

For none can thee secure, 
But ONE, who never changes, 

Thy God, thy life, thy cure. 



SIR AUBREY DE VERE, 

Irish Poet. (1788-1846.) 




THE PASSION FLOWER* 

RT Thou a type of beauty, or of power, 
Of sweet enjoyment, or disastrous sin ? 
For each thy name denoteth, Passion Flower ! 

O no ! thy pure corolla's depth within 
We trace a holier symbol ; yea, a sign 

'Twixt God and man ; a record of that hour 
When the expiatory act divine 

Canceled that curse which was our mortal dower. 
It is the Cross. 



SACRED AND PROFANE WRITERS. 

Let those who will, hang rapturously o'er 

The flowing eloquence of Plato's page ; 
Repeat, with flashing eye, the sounds that pour 

From Homer's verse as with torrent's rage ; 
Let those who list, ask Tully to assuage 

Wild hearts with high-wrought periods, and restore 
The reign of rhetoric ; or maxims sage 

Winnow from Seneca's sententious lore. 

* See vine and flower in illustration on page 1. The name passion 
flower— flos passionis — arose from the supposed resemblance of the corona 
to the crown of thorns, and of the other parts of the flower to the nails, or 
wounds, while the five sepals and five petals were taken to symbolize the 
ten apostles ; Peter, who denied, and Judas, who betrayed, being left out 
of the reckoning. 



476 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



Not these, but Judah's hallowed bard, to me 
Are dear ; Isaiah's noble energy ; 

The temperate grief of Job ; the artless strain 
Of Ruth and pastoral Amos, the high songs 
Of David, and the tale of Joseph's wrongs, 

Simply pathetic, eloquently plain. 



THOMAS DE VERE. 



Irish Poet and Miscellaneous Writer. 



ECCLESIA DEI. 



jGVjwS tne moon its splendor borrows 
Jl^V From a sun unseen all night, 



<* 



k 



So from Christ, the Sun of Justice, 

Draws His Church her sacred light. 
Touched by His, her hands have healing, 

Bread of Life, absolving key ; 
Christ incarnate is her bridegroom — 

The spirit hers, His temple she. 
Hers the kingdom, hers the sceptre ! 

Fall, ye nations, at her feet ! 
Hers the truth whose fruit is freedom, 

Light her yoke, her burden sweet. 



VICTORIA ALEXANDRIA CROWNED. 

A Religious Ceremony of England. 

HEN the Queen of Great Britain was crowned at 
Westminster Abbey in June, 1837, three presents 
were given to her : first, the Sword of State ; sec- 
ond, the Imperial Robe; and, lastly, the Holy 
These words accompanied the last-named gift : "Our 
gracious Queen, we present to you this Book, the most val- 
uable thing the world affords. Here is wisdom ; this is the 
royal law ; these are the timely oracles of God. Blessed is 
he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this Book ; 




Bible. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 477 

that keep and do the things contained in it. For these are 
the words of eternal life, able to make yon wise unto salva- 
tion, and so happy forevermore, through faith which is in 
Christ Jesus, to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen." 




DANIEL WOLSEY VOORHEES, 

United States Senator. 

AM not here, gentlemen, in behalf of this pale-faced 
wanderer from his home and the path of duty, to talk 
to you about the cold technicalities of the law, born 
of a laborious analysis by the light of the midnight 
lamp. I place him before you on no such narrow grounds. 
He is in the hands of his friends, who abhorred the conduct 
of which he has been guilty. But does that fact debar him 
of human sympathy ? Does that sinful act smite the erring 
brother with the leprosy which forbids the touch of the 
hand of affection ? Is his voice of repentance, an appeal for 
forgiveness, stifled in his mouth? If so, the meek Saviour 
of the world would have recoiled with horror from Mary 
Magdalene, and spurned the repentant sorrow of Peter who 
denied Him — Page 693 of "Distinguished American Law- 
yers," by Henry W. Scott. 



PETER DUMONT VROOM, 

Lawyer and Diplomat. (1791-1873.) 

|F we would do our work effectually we must follow 
them with the Bible. They can not go without carry- 
ing sin with them ; it is a constant inmate, and takes 
up no room ; but the Bible may be left behind, and its 
use and value forgotten altogether. Or, if a single copy be 
taken along, how soon it is lost in the rapid changes that 
follow. The tide of emigration is setting onward with un- 
abated power. While I speak, the spirit of enterprise is 
pushing its way to the far West; now striking into the dark 




478 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

bosom of the forest, and now pursuing its course along the 
margin of some stream, in either case far removed from the 
influence of religion and the Bible. Can we, who know the 
value of Gospel truth, who have partaken of its blessings, and 
are constantly refreshed by the rich streams that flow forever 
from this spiritual fountain — can we be insensible to their 
wants? ... In thus approaching them, our adopted 
brethren may rest satisfied that our motives are pure ; we 
meet them on the broad and catholic basis of the Bible with- 
out note or comment. We believe it to be the best hope of 
the country in which we have now a common interest ; and, 
what is of infinitely more importance, we believe it to be 
u the power of God, and the wisdom of God unto the salva- 
tion of their souls." — " Testimony to the Value of the Scrip- 
tures" by the American Bible Society. 



MORRISON REMICK WAITE, 

Chief-Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1874-1888. 

G^o (1816-1888.) 

jOyJ\> MEMBER of the family, by personal request, certi- 
\tyt fies t0 tne following: "The late Chief- Justice 
^ (o} 3 Waite lived his Christianity ; did not talk it merely. 
He believed in the inspiration of the Holy Scrip- 
ture as it appeared, but was too busy to study up all the 
modern questions agitating the churches. He accepted the 
faith as it was taught in our denomination, and was, there- 
fore, a believer in the divinity of Jesus Christ." 



JOSEPH H. WALKER, 

Congressman. 

.HE Bible says Christ is " the Truth." I sincerely be- 
lieve it, and that there is no truth outside of Him. 
The Bible is what it purports to be, "The Word of 
God," whether by verbal inspiration, plenary inspira- 
tion, or by truth impressing itself overpoweringly on the 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



479' 



mind of godly men. Real happiness and prosperity are 
only in obedience to Jesus Christ, in essence in all the life.. 




jU£u- 




RICHARD WAGNER, 

German Musical Composer. (1813-1883.) 

OD Himself 
was left to 
the philos- 
ophers to 
define, and proved 
a conception which 
the Hellenic mind 
sought in vain dis- 
tinctly to establish, 
until, by a band of 
wonderfully in- 
spired people, the 
incredible tidings 
were proclaimed 
that the Son of God 
had offered Him- 
self upon the Cross 
as a sacrifice for the 
redemption of the 
world from the - : - "' >; - ^ 

bonds of deceit and sin. With this, God Himself assumed 
shape as in that most anthrophormorphic manner, viz.: the 
highest conception of sympathetic love — a human form 
stretched in agonizing suffering upon the Cross. — Wagner \ 
1880, page 272. 





480 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

LEWIS WALLACE, 

Author of " Ben-Hur," and "The Prince of India"; 
Major-General in Civil War; Diplomat. 

v>T that time (1875), speaking candidly, I was not in 
the least influenced by religious sentiment. I had 
no conviction about God and Christ. I neither be- 
lieved nor disbelieved them. ... I had been 
listening to a discussion which involved such elemental 
points as God, Heaven, life hereafter, Jesus Christ, and His 
Divinity. Trudging on in the dark, alone, except as one's 
thoughts may be company, good or bad, a sense of the im- 
portance of the theme struck me for the first time with a 
force both singular and persistent. I was ashamed of my- 
self, and make haste now to declare that mortification of 
pride I then endured, or, if it be preferred, the punishment 
of spirit, ended in a resolution to study the whole matter, if 
only for the gratification there might be in having convic- 
tions of one kind or another. Forthwith a number of prac- 
tical suggestions assailed me. How could I conduct the 
study? Delve into theology? I shuddered. . . . There 
were the sermons and commentaries. The very thought of 
them overwhelmed me with an idea of the shortness of life. 
No, I would read the Bible and the four Gospels. A lawyer 
of fifteen or twenty years of practice attains a confidence 
peculiar in his mental muscularity, so to speak. . . . 
The manuscript in my desk ended with the birth of Christ ; 
why not make it the first book of a volume, and go on to His 
death? I halted — there was light! . . . I had my open- 
ing ; it was the birth of Christ. Could anything be more 
beautiful? As a mere story, the imagination of man has 
conceived nothing more crowded with poetry, mystery, and 
incidents, pathetic and sublime, nothing sweeter with human 
interest, nothing so nearly a revelation of God in person. 
So, too, I saw a fitting conclusion. Viewed purely and pro- 
fessionally as a climax or catastrophe to be written up to, the 
final scene of the last act of the tragedy, what could be more 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 48 1 

stupendous than the Crucifixion ? . . . Wanting a con- 
necting thread for the whole story — that given to Christ the 
Child and that given to Christ the Saviour, I kept Belthasar 
alive to the end. ... I determined to withhold the re- 
appearance of the Saviour until the very last hours. Mean- 
while, He should always be coming — to-day I would have 
Him, as it were, just over the hill yonder — to-morrow He 
will be here, and then to-morrow. . . . Finally, when 
He was come, I would be religiously careful that every word 
He uttered should be a literal quotation from one of His 
sainted biographers. . . . The name "Ben-Hur" was 
chosen because it was biblical, and easily spelled, printed, 
and pronounced. As this article is in the nature of confes- 
sions, here is one which the readers of the Youth? s Companion 
may excuse, and accept at the same time as a fitting conclu- 
sion: Long before I was through with my book I became 
a believer in God and Christ. — u How I Came to Write ( Ben- 
Hur]" by Lew Wallace, Youth's Companion, February 2, 

1893. 




SIR FRANCIS WALS1NGHAM, 

English Statesman. (1536-1590.) 

O, I am not melancholy, but I am serious ; and it is 
very proper that we should be so ! Ah, my friends, 
while we laugh, everything is serious about us. 
God is serious, who exerciseth patience towards us ; 
Christ is serious, who shed His atoning blood for us ; the 
Holy Ghost is serious, who striveth against the obstinacy of 
our hearts ; the Holy Scriptures are serious books; they pre- 
sent to our thoughts the most serious concerns in all the 
world ; the holy sacraments represent very serious and awful 
matters ; the whole creation is serious in serving God and 
us ; all in heaven are serious ; all who are in hell are serious. 
How then can we be gay and trifling? — Page 649, "Alli- 
boners Prose Quotations ." 



482 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

JOHN WANAMAKER, 

Postmaster-General of the United States ; Financier. 

CAME only to salute you, as one working with you r 
and as one in sympathy with you. Whatever skepti- 
cism of the day may say, there is a power in the Gos- 
pel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep uppermost the 
profound conviction that it is the Gospel that is to win the 
heart and convert the world. The things that were sweet 
dreams in our childhood are now being worked out. The 
procession is being made longer and longer ; the letters of 
Christ's name are becoming larger and larger. — Extract front 
Address at the Eighth Annual Conference of the Young Peo- 
ple's Society of Christian Endeavor, Philadelphia, July 9-1 1,.. 







IZAAK WALTON, 

English Writer. ( 1593 ?-i683.) 



ONTENT will never dwell but in a meek and quiet 

\^j soul. And this may appear if we read and consider 

^Lj) what our Saviour says in Matthew's Gospel : " Blessed 

be the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed 

be the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed be the 

poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and blessed 

be the meek, for they shall possess the earth." 

But what pleasure it is to the devout Christian to see there 
the humble house in which Paul was content to dwell, and 
to view the many rich statues that are made in honor of his 
memory ; nay, to see the very place in which Peter and he 
lie buried together. These are in or near Rome. And how 
much more does it please the pious curiosity of a Christian 
to see the place in which the blessed Saviour of the world 
was pleased to humble Himself, and to take our nature upon 
Him. 

In the name of God, amen. I, Izaak Walton, the elder, 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 483 

of Winchester, being this present day in the ninetieth year 
of my age, and in perfect memory, for which praised be 
God ; but considering how suddenly I may be deprived of 
both, do therefore make my last will and testament as fol- 
lows : First, I do declare my belief to be that there is only 
one God, who hath made the whole world, and me, and all 
mankind ; to whom I shall give an account of all my actions, 
which are not to be justified, but I hope to be pardoned 
through the merits of my Saviour, Jesus. — Extracts from 
"The Complete Angler" by Izaak lValto?t. 




REUBEN HYDE WALWORTH, 

Lawyer, and the Last of the Chancellors of New- York. 
(1788-1867.) 

.0 those who have carefully observed or considered 
the progress of civil and religious freedom, at differ- 
ent times and in various countries, it can hardly be 
necessary to say, it has always been the most rapid, 
as well as the most healthy, where the Bible was most widely 
disseminated ; and where the sacred truths contained therein 
were brought home to the greatest number of people. In- 
deed, there is no nation, though nominally civilized and 
Christianized, which has made any great advancement in the 
amelioration and improvement of the social condition of the 
masses except those where the Sacred Scriptures were in 
the hands of, and studied by, the people generally. . . . 
The statesman, the scholar, and even the politician, as well 
as the philanthropist and the Christian, by a careful and dili- 
gent study of the Scriptures will find himself a much wiser, 
if not a much better man, and will also be able to discharge 
Tiis social and political duties ; or to pursue the rugged paths 
of science with more credit to himself and more benefit to 
his country and his kind than if he had confined his investi- 
gations to mere worldly wisdom. . . . And we can not 
be sufficiently thankful to Him for having revealed His 



4 8 4 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



existence to us, and disclosed to ns something of His attri- 
butes ; especially that attribute of mercy which sent our 
Divine Redeemer upon His mission of love to the apostate 
race of man. — From a Letter to the American Bible Society, 
dated Saratoga Springs, December 17, 1853. 





GEORGE WASHINGTON, 

First President of the United States. ( 1732-1799.) 



ND now, Almighty 
Father, if it is Thy 
holy will that we 
shall obtain a place 
and name among the na- 
tions of the earth, grant 
that we may be enabled to 
show our gratitude for Thy 
goodness by our endeavors 
to fear and obey Thee. 
Bless us with Thy wisdom 
in our counsels, success in 
battle, and let all our victo- 
ries be tempered with 
humanity. Endow, also, our enemies with enlightened 
minds, that they become sensible of their injustice, and 
willing to restore our liberty and peace. Grant the petition 
of Thy servant, for the sake of Him whom Thou hast called 
Thy beloved Son; nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be 
done. — u Mc Quire's Religious Opinions and Character of 
Washington." 

A small memorandum book, written by George Washing- 
ton, and containing only his prayers for Sunday, Monday, 
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, and for Sun- 
day, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings, under the 
general head of "The Daily Sacrifice," is the private prop- 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 485 

erty of William Bvarts Benjamin, of New York. The man- 
uscript is very neatly and legibly written. The following 
pages show an exact facsimile copy of the first of these pray- 
ers : 

{VlA ftr 0%ju,i Jy d&J 2%ul. /&**. fr£^ 



486 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



*ls0?bd fast CJ&w &T**, PTuju, <x#u} cio4 c4a* 

^ />7^<. <^> f o^-P us^eS Z± fo^ 

Z5 PAJUL>, ^W> Jw>4 /Ktrf O^LP&0>9 

/fies><)(r>^ J %<j€j>-v£ jyUis, fay Jvk^ 

&** />&/* (K*6 0&JU t 6Ud f LJjr>07» *%i. 
(VK0 cud f AjMoO^i, ti&<*^ *S *%~6)/ ^lot 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



487 



THE DAILY SACRIFICE. SUNDAY MORNING. 



Almighty God, and 
most merciful Father, 
who didst command the 
children of Israel to of- 
fer a daily sacrifice to 
Thee that thereby they 
might glorify and praise 
Thee for Thy protection 
hoth night and day, re- 
ceive, O Lord, my morn- 
ing sacrifice which I 
now offer up to Thee. 
I yield Thee humble 
and hearty thanks that 
Thou hast preserved me 
from the dangers of the 
night past, and brought 
me to the light of this 
day, and the comfort thereof, a day which is consecrated to 
Thine own service and for Thine own honor. Let my heart, 
therefore, gracious God, be so affected with the glory and 
majesty of it that I may not do mine own works, but wait on 
Thee, and discharge those weighty duties thou requirest of 
me ; and since Thou art a God of pure eyes, and will be 
sanctified in all who draw near unto Thee, who dost not re- 
gard the sacrifice of fools, nor hear sinners who tread in Thy 
courts, pardon, I beseech Thee, my sins ; remove them from 
Thy presence as far as the east is from the west, and accept 
of me for the merits of Thy Son Jesus Christ, that when I 
come into Thy temple and compass Thine altar, my prayer 
may come before Thee as incense ; and as I desire Thou 




488 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

wouldst hear me calling upon Thee in my prayers, so give 
me grace to hear Thee calling on me in Thy Word, that it 
may be wisdom, righteous reconciliation, and peace to the 
saving of my soul in the day of the Lord Jesus. Grant that 
I may hear it with reverence, receive it with meekness, min- 
gle it with faith, and that it may accomplish in me, gracious 
God, the good work for which Thou hast sent it. Bless my 
family, kindred, friends, and country ; be our God and guide 
this day and forever, for His sake, who lay down in the 
grave, and arose again for us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



«f<kA, <nu> o/ ***>*/ *++<£ *** *&** #*rf 






<U^c 







A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 489 

CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER, 

Author and Journalist. 

HE noblest ideal of life is incarnated in the person of 
Jesus Christ. This is not a matter of dogma or of 
speculation ; it is fact. Men are good just in pro- 
portion as they conform to Him. A leader of men is 
a bad leader without Him. His spirit and example are the 
test of civilization, and there is no hope for society except in 
the ideal of life that He gave the world. Nations do not by 
any means live up to this standard, but Christianity, in its 
practical results, challenges comparison with all other faiths. 
It is perfectly evident that the nations on the highest plane 
in education, in morality, in all the prosperities of life, are 
Christian. The argument for Christ's unapproachable pre- 
eminence as a Teacher and Saviour of the world can safely 
rest there. And the Bible is the only infallible guide in 
morals and in spiritual life. 



"7 




O 



EMORY WASHBURNE, 

Lawyer and Statesman. (1800-1877.) 

>HE tendency of the Christian religion to improve the 
condition of man under every form of government is 
now universally acknowledged. . . . History 
shows that the Bible is aiding the advance of liberal 
principles throughout the world. . . . Though the intel- 
ligence of the people is one great element of this reliance, 
still, to the Bible, and to the power of the truths it contains, 
are we far more indebted than to any other cause for the 
preservation of order and peace throughout the land. . . . 
The Bible makes a man afraid to do wrong; because it 
teaches him that thereby he violates the law of his con- 



49° A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

science. . . . The Bible, moreover, infuses into the 
bosom of every man a feeling of self-control ; and in so doing 
it lays the foundation for a simple, thorough, and effective 
government of the country. . . . Men must be fed, and 
fed abundantly, by the Bread of Life. — Extracts from a pam- 
phlet published by the American Bible Society. 




HENRY WATTERSON, 

Editor of the Courier-Journal, Louisville. 

V7\)TH are met this day to honor the memory of Chris- 
topher Columbus, to celebrate the four hundreth 
annual return of his transcendent achievement, 
and with fitting rights to dedicate to America 
and the universe a concrete exposition of the world's prog- 
ress between 1492 and 1892. No twenty centuries can be 
compared with those four centuries either in importance or in 
interest, as no previous ceremonial can be compared with 
this in its wide significance and reach ; because since the 
advent of the Son of God no event has had so great an in- 
fluence upon human affairs as the discovery of the Western 
hemisphere. . . . God bless the children and their 
mothers! God bless our country's flag! and God be with 
us now and ever ; God in the roof-tree's shade, God on the 
highway, God in the winds and waves, and God in our 
hearts. — From his Dedicatory Oration at the World's Colum- 
bian Exposition, Chicago, October 21, 1892. 



ALEXANDER STEWART WEBB, 

Major-General, and President of the College of the City of New 

iTlqTrY personal opinion of Christ, the Saviour, and of the 
^^rX inspired Book, is the result of my experience, and is 

^^k^J) in perfect accord with the teachings of the Church 
of which I am a member. 
I can not imagine a condition of affairs in the United 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



4 9 I 



States which would call forth any expression of this opinion 
unless some permanent party should attempt to drive the 
Bible from our Public Schools. 





DANIEL WEBSTER, 

Lawyer, Orator, and Statesman. (1782-1852.) 

HE Bible is the Book 

of faith, and a Book 

of doctrine, and a 

Book of morals, and 
a Book of religion, of spec- 
ial revelation from God ; 
but it is also a Book which 
teaches man his own indi- 
vidual responsibi 1 i t y , his 
own dignity, and his equality 
with his fellow man. — From 
his Bunker Hill Monument 
Speech, Charlestown, Mass. y 
June 17, 1843. 

On one occasion, when seated in the drawing-room, Mr. 
Webster laid his hand on a copy of the Scriptures, saying 
with great emphasis, " This is the Book. I have read 
through the entire Bible many times. I now make it a 
practice to go through it once a year. It is the Book of all 
others for lawyers as well as divines ; and I pity the man 
that can not find in it a rich supply of thought, and of rules 
for his conduct. It fits man for life — it prepares him for 
death. My brother knew the importance of Bible truths. 
The Bible led him to prayer, and prayer was his communion 
with God. On the day he died he was engaged in an im- 
portant cause in the courts then in session. But this cause, 




49 2 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

important as it was, did not keep him from his duty to God. 
He found time for prayer; for on his desk which he had just 
left was found a prayer written by him on that day, 
which for fervent piety, a devotedness to his heavenly Mas- 
ter, and for expressions of humility I think was never ex- 
celled." 

The Gospel is either true history, or it is a consummate 
fraud ; it is either a reality or an imposition. Christ was 
what He professed to be, or He was an imposter. There is 
no other alternative. His spotless life in His earnest enforce- 
ment of the truth — His suffering in its defense, forbid us to 
suppose that He was suffering an illusion of a heated brain. 
Every act of His pure and holy life shows that He was the 
author of truth, the advocate of truth, the earnest defender 
of truth, and the uncompromising sufferer for truth. Now, 
considering the purity of His doctrines, the simplicity of His 
life, and the sublimity of His death, is it possible that he 
would have died for an illusion ? In all His preaching the 
Saviour made no popular appeals ; His discourses were always 
directed to the individual. Christ and His apostles sought to 
impress upon every man the conviction that he must stand 
or fall alone — he must live for himself, and die for himself, 
and give up his account to the omniscient God as though he 
were the only dependent creature in the universe. The 
Gospel leaves the individual sinner alone with himself and 
his God. To his own Master he stands or falls. He has 
nothing to hope from the aid and sympathy of associates. 
The deluded advocates of new doctrines do not so preach. 
Christ and His apostles, had they been deceivers, would not 
so have preached. If clergymen in our days would return 
to the simplicity of the Gospel, and preach more to indi- 
viduals and less to the crowd, there would not be so much 
complaint of the decline of true religion. Many of the min- 
isters of the present day take their text from St. Paul, and 
preach from the newspapers. When they do so, I prefer to 
enjoy my own thoughts rather than to listen. I want my 
Pastor to come to me in the spirit of the Gospel, saying: 



A CLOUD OF WITNEvSSES. 493 

"You are mortal! Your probation is brief; your work must 
be done speedily ; you are immortal, too. You are hastening 
to the bar of God ; the Judge standeth at the door. When 
I am thus admonished, I have no disposition to muse or to 
sleep. — Pages 104, 106, and 107 " Private Life of Daniel Web- 
ster' 1 '' by Charles Lanman. 

Two weeks before death, Mr. Webster dictated this testi- 
mony of religious faith, and desired it to be engraved as an 
epitaph upon his tomb: 

" LORD, I BELIEVE ; HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF." 

Philosophical 
argument, especially 
that drawn from the vastness of the 
Universe in comparison with the appar- 
ent insignificance of this globe, has sometimes 
shaken my reason for the faith which is in me; 
but my heart has always assured and reassured me that 
the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be a Divine Re- 
ality. The vSermon on the Mount can not be a 
merely human production. This belief 
enters into the very depths of my 
conscience. The whole history 
of man proves it. 

DANIEL WEBvSTER. 

Having executea his will, he remarked, " I thank God for 
strength to perform a sensible act." After some minutes 
spent in prayer he concluded by exclaiming, "And now 
unto God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be praise 
for evermore. Peace on earth, and good will toward men. 
That is happiness — the essence — good will toward men." — 
Samuel M. Smucker, Chapter XII, in" Life, Speeches, and 
Memorials of Daniel Webster" 

A few hours before Mr. Webster died, he said slowly, "The 
great mystery is Jesus Christ — the Gospel. What would the 
condition of any of us be if we had not the hope of immor- 
tality? . . . Thank God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
brought life and immortality to light, rescued it — brought it 
to light" He then began to repeat the Lord's Prayer, say- 



494 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

ing earnestly, "Hold me up; I do not wish to pray with a 
fainting voice. " . . . "I still live " were his last coher- 
ent words. — Page 228, "Famous American Statesmen," by 
Mrs. Sarah K. Bolton. 



HARRISON EDWIN WEBSTER, 

President of Union College. 

THINK that the Bible is the revealed Word of God, 
and that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; 
no man cometh to the Father but by Him. The Scrip- 
tures contain "those things which are able to make us 
wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. " 



i¥^,.M^\ 




NOAH WEBSTER, 

Lexicographer. (1758-1843.) 



NDER a sense of this responsibility he took up the 
study of the Bible with painful solicitude. As he 
advanced, the objections which he had formerly 
entertained against the humbling doctrines of the 
Gospel were wholly removed. He felt their truth in his own 
experience. He felt that salvation must be wholly of grace. 
He felt constrained, as he afterwards told a friend, to cast 
himself down before God, confess his sins, implore pardon 
through the merits of the Redeemer, and there to make his 
vows of entire obedience to the commands and devotion to 
the service of his Maker. With his characteristic prompti- 
tude he instantly made known to his family the feelings 
which he entertained. He called them together the next 
morning, and told them with deep emotion, that, while he 
had aimed at the faithful discharge of all his duties as their 
parent and head, he had neglected one of the most impor- 




CARRYING JESUS TO THE TOMB. 



WHEN the even was come, there came a rich man of Aramathea, named Joseph, 
who also himself was Jesus' disciple: he went to Pilate, and begged the body 
of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had 
taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new 
tomb, which had been hewn out in the rock. — Matthew xxvii, 57-60. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 495 

tant — that of family prayer. After reading the Scriptures, 
he led them, with deep solemnity, to the throne of grace, 
and from that time continued the practice with the liveliest 
of interest to the period of his death. He made a public 
profession of religion in April, 1808. ... At his death 
he expressed his entire resignation to the will of God, and 
his unshaken trust in the atoning blood of the Saviour. . . 
"I know whom I have believed, and that He is able to keep 
that which I have committed to Him against that day" — 
such was the solemn and affecting testimony which he gave 
to his friend while the hand of death was upon him. — See 
Memoir of Noah Webster, " Webster } s Unabridged Dictionary '." 




THURLOW WEED, 

Journal st. (1797-1882.) 

O act of the Saviour's life and no word He ever 
uttered has been, or can be, construed or tortured 
into hostility to the welfare and happiness of every 
member of the human family. Human laws are 
founded upon Divine laws. And that which concerns our 
happiness here and our hopes hereafter is derived from 
the Scriptures. 

If it be urged that the promises of our Saviour have not 
all been realized, that sin still abounds, and that the world 
is as bad as ever, it may be answered that religion is work- 
ing out its mission ; that its benign influences are constantly 
extending, and that the light is irradiating the darkest re- 
cesses of heathenism and idolatry. It requires no argument 
to demonstrate the fact that our race is improved by civiliza- 
tion, or that civilization owes its origin and progress to re- 
ligion. 

Another argument against religion is that our Saviour was 
an impostor, and, as a corollary, that His teachings exert a 
baneful influence. And yet both of the accusations are dis- 
proved by the experience of two thousand years. If Jesus 



496 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

of Nazareth had been an impostor, His name and everything 
connected with it would hardly have survived a second gen- 
eration. Other and false teachers have appeared and dis- 
appeared. But time and truth have attested the Divinity of 
our Saviour. His apostles and their successors, obeying His 
instructions, have carried and are carrying the glad tidings 
to the uttermost ends of the earth. As far and as fast as this 
Gospel travels, the world is civilized and its inhabitants ben- 
efited. — Extract from a speech before the Nineteenth Century 
Club; pages 506 and 507, "Kings of the Platform and Pulpit" 



SIR THOMAS WENTWORTH, 

(EARL OF STRAFFORD,) 

English Statesman. (1593-1641.) 

AM here by the good will and pleasure of Almighty 
God to pay that last debt I owe to sin, which is death; 
and by the blessing of God to rise again, through the 
merits of Jesus Christ, to righteousness and eternal 
life. ... I never had in my heart to doubt of this relig- 
ion; nor even had any man the boldness to suggest any such 
thing to me, to the best of my remembrance ; and so being 
reconciled by the merits of Jesus Christ, my Saviour, into 
whose bosom I hope shortly to be gathered to those eternal 
happinesses which shall have no end. — Pages 46 and 48,. 
Volume III, "British Plutarch." 



JAMES CLARKE WELLING, 

President of the Columbian University. 

HE history of the world is Christocentric. In all the 

ages of human history before Christ, the testimony 

of Jesus was the spirit of prophecy, and in all the 

ages of human history since the advent of Christ, He 

has been fulfilling more and more the sublime words, "And 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 497 

I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto 
me." Already He has drawn the whole civilized world to 
the standard of the moral law proclaimed in the Sermon on 
the Mount ; for the civilized nations of the earth are to-day 
Christian in their moral standards, however far they may 
fall below those standards in international practice. 





GILBERT WEST, 

English Author. (1705-1756.) 



CAN not forbear taking notice of one other mark of 
integrity which appears in all the compositions of the 
sacred writers, and particularly the evangelists. . . 
. They speak of an angel descending from heaven to 
foretell the miraculous conception of Jesus ; of another proc- 
lamation of His birth, attended by a multitude of the heav- 
enly host praising God ; of His star appearing in the East; 
of angels ministering to Him in the wilderness ; of His glory 
in the mount ; of a voice twice heard from heaven, saying, 
"This is my beloved Son"; of innumerable miracles per- 
formed by Him, and by His disciples in His name ; of His 
knowing the thoughts of men; of His foretelling future 
events ; of prodigies accompanying His crucifixion and death ; 
of an angel descending in terrors, opening His sepulchre, and 
frightening away the soldiers who were set to guard it ; of 
His rising from the dead, ascending into heaven, and pouring 
down, according to His promise, the miraculous gifts of the 
Holy Spirit upon His apostles and disciples. All these amaz- 
ing incidents do these inspired historians relate nakedly and 
plainly without any of the colorings and heigh tenings of 
rhetoric, or so much as a single note of admiration ; without 
making any comment or remark upon them, or drawing from 
them any conclusion in honor either of their Master or them- 
selves, or to the advantage of the religion they preached in 



498 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

His name ; but contenting themselves with relating the 
naked truth, whether it seems to make for them or against 
them ; without either magnifying on the one hand, or pal- 
liating on the other, they leave their cause to the unbiassed 
judgment of mankind, seeking, like genuine apostles of the 
Lord of truth, to convince rather than to persuade. — "Obser- 
vations on the History and Evidence of the Resurrection of 
Jesus Christ" by Gilbert West. 




BENJAMIN IDE WHEELER, 

Professor of Greek in Cornell University. 

HE Christ is to me the personal embodiment of 
the spirit of good among men. He is in vital form 
the Revelation of God. The Word became flesh, and 
not book. " Ye search the Scriptures .... but 
ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life." I know 
the Christ, not only as the historical Jesus of Nazareth, but 
as He lives in men to-day. I know through the Christ, and 
the Christ in men, the one supreme truth of religion, that 
God is a Father who freely and perfectly loves. 

However it is compassed, the Bible must be read more, and 
studied more, and taken more deeply into the life of every 
Christian. We can not do without it. It is the very heart 
of our faith. It contains the germ of the whole of our re- 
ligion. It is the charter of our religious liberties in the 
deepest sense of liberty. He who reads and knows it, can 
never be made a slave to traditions, or hierarchies, or creeds. 
It is the perpetual inspiration to the faith of the Church. 
The victims of unbelief are not the Bible readers. We have 
known Christian metaphysics to inspire doubt, but never the 
Christian life. Cast as it is in the life-form, it reapplies it- 
self continually to the changing horizons of thought and 
society, and it can not become antiquated nor obsolete any 
more than a deed of heroism or a mother's love. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 499 

JOSEPH WHEELER, 

Member of Congress, and Senior Confederate Cavalry 
General. 

|N response to your letter asking my opinion of "Christ 
and the Bible," I would say that I think the life and 
death of Jesus Christ are the embodiment of the prin- 
ciples of the true religion; and that the practice of 
His teachings in the Gospels, and especially in the Sermon 
on the Mount, will lead to a realization of the ends for which 
the religion of our Saviour was instituted. 




WILLIAM ALMON WHEELER, 

Financier, Congressman, and Vice-President of the United States. 
( 1819-1887.) 

NOW look on that kind of work — leading men to the 
Saviour — as the greatest that can be done on earth. 
I would not give up my trust in God — not for this 
'whole world. I believe man a sinner ; therefore the 
vital necessity of repentance ; the atonement on Calvary ; the 
provision ; and Christ, the only Saviour. — From the Memorial 
Address delivered at the place of his birth and death, Malone, 
New York. 

EDWIN PERCY WHIPPLE, 

Author, Essayist, and Critic. (1819-1886.) 

vHB true glory of a nation is an intelligent, industri- 
ous, Christian people. . . . The safety of a na- 
tion depends not on the wisdom of its statesmen or 
the bravery of its generals. The tongue of eloquence 
never saved a nation tottering to its fall ; the sword of a war- 




^OO A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

rior never stayed its destruction. There is a surer defense in 
every Christian home. I say Christian home, for I know of 
no glory to manhood which comes not from the Cross. I 
know of no rights wrung from tyranny ; no truth rescued 
from darkness and bigotry, which has not waited on a Chris- 
tian civilization. Would you see the image of true glory, I 
would show you villages where the crown and glory of the 
people are in Christian character; where the children are 
gathered in Christian schools; where the voice of prayer 
goes heavenward ; where the people have that most precious 
gift : faith in God. — Page 248 of School- Reader, by Albert 
E. Humke, Teacher of Reading and Orthoepy, Indiana State 
Normal School. 




HENRY KIRKE WHITE, 

English Poet. (1785-1806.) 

vHINK what strains of joy and tranquillity fall on the 
ear of the saint who is just swooning into the arms 
of his Redeemer ; what fearful shapes and dreadful 
images of a disturbed conscience surround the sin- 
ner's bed when the last twig which he grasps fails him, and 
the gulf yawns to receive him. O, my soul, if thou art 
yet ignorant of the enormity of sin, turn thine eyes to the 
Man who is bleeding on the Cross ! See how the blood from 
His pierced hands trickles down His arms, and the more 
copious streams from His feet run on the accursed tree and 
stain the grass with purple! Behold His features! Though 
scarcely animated with a few remaining sparks of life, yet 
how full of love, pity, and tranquillity! A tear is falling 
down his cheek, and His lip quivers. He is praying for 
His murderers! O, my soul ! it is thy Redeemer! It is thy 
God ! And this, too, for sin, for sin ! — See "Life of Henry 
Kirke White" in u Poetical Works of Rogers, Campbell, 
Montgomery, Lamb, and Kirke White." 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER, 

Poet. (1807-1892.) 



50I 







^ 



THE WORD OF GOD. 



iG ^VX07^OICE of the Holy Spirit, making known 
SpV^ Man to himself, a witness swift and sure, 
TK? Warning, approving, true and wise and pure, 
Counsel and guidance that misleadeth none ! 
By Thee the mystery of Life is read ; 
The picture writing of the world's gray seers, 
The myths and parables of the primal years, 
Whose letter kills, by thee interpreted 
Take healthful meanings fitted to our needs, 
And in the soul's vernacular express 
The common law of simple righteousness. 
Hatred of cant and doubt of human creeds 
May well be felt the unpardonable sin 
Is to deny the Word of God within ! 



OUR MASTER. 

We may not climb the heavenly steeps 
To bring the Lord Christ down ; 

In vain we search the lowest deeps, 
For Him no depths can drown. 



502 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

O I^ord and Master of us all ! 

Whate'er our name or sign, 
We own Thy sway, we hear Thy call, 

We test our lives by Thine. 



Deep strike Thy roots, O heavenly Vine, 

Within our earthly sod, 
Most human and yet most Divine, 

The flower of Man and God ! 

O Love ! O Life ! Our faith and sight 

Thy presence maketh one ; 
As through transfigured clouds of white 

We trace the noonday sun. 

So, to our mortal eyes subdued, 
Flesh-veiled but not concealed, 

We know in Thee the fatherhood 
And heart of God revealed. 

We faintly hear, we dimly see, 
In differing phrase we pray ; 

But, dim or clear, we own in Thee 
The Life, the Truth, the Way ! 



WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, 

English Statesman and Philanthropist. (1759-1833.) 

AM this week entering on a scene of great tempta- 
tions — a perpetual round of dissipation, and a house 
overflowing with guests ; it is the more necessary for 
me to live by faith in the Son of God. Do Thou, then, 
blessed Saviour and Friend of sinners, hear and have mercy 
upon me. Let Thy strength be magnified in my weakness. 
Help me, O Jesus, and by Thy spirit cleanse me from my 
pollutions ; give me a deeper abhorrence of sin ; let me press 
forward. A thousand gracious assurances stand forth in 
Christ's Gospel. I humbly pray to be enabled to attend 
more to my secret devotions, to pray over Scripture ; to in- 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 503 

terlace God's thoughts of Christ ; to be less volatile, more 
humble, and more bold for Christ. 

What a blessing it is to be permitted to retire from the 
bustle of this world, and to be furnished with so many helps 
for realizing unseen things ? I seem to myself to-day to be 
in some degree under the power of real Christianity; con- 
scious, deeply conscious of corruption and unprofitableness ; 
yet to such an one, repenting and confessing his sins, and 
looking to the cross of Christ, pardon and reconciliation are 
held forth, and enable me to conquer His spiritual enemies. 
Be not thou cast down, O my soul, but ask for grace from 
the fullness which is in Christ Jesus. — " Life of IVilliajn Wil- 
berforce" by his sons, Robert and Samuel Wilberforce. 




JOHN WILSON, 

Member of Parliament from Durham. 

HIS gentleman, one of the workingmen members of 
Parliament, recently occupied the pulpit of a wealthy 
church at Hamstead, a suburb of London. He spoke 
of "Financial Progress: Its Helps and Hindrances. " 
He started life as a miner, without any schooling, gathering 
up his education as best he could. This part of his address 
is taken from the Christian World: " God has no partial- 
ities ; there are no favorites in His family. . . . There 
is no power in this country more effective than Christian 
teaching. I know you have seen it badly presented. You 
have heard mere wrangling over dogma, and not true re- 
ligion. But that is not God's fault. Here [putting his hand 
on the Bible] are its principles — justice, truth, honesty, self- 
sacrifice, love. Would these not help the world, think you? 
If all men did justly, if all men acted honestly, if all men 
were merciful in their relations, if all men would take upon 
themselves the self-sacrifice of the good Samaritan, if all 
men had the love of Christ for his fellows, the black ruins 
of wickedness and woe would soon be ended, and such a life 
be possible as becomes this nation." 



504 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 




WILLIAM I., 

(WILHELM FRIEDRICH LUDWIG,) 

King of Prussia, and Emperor of Germany, (1797-1888.) 

vHB foundation and rock to which I, and we all, must 
cling is the undefiled faith, as it is taught us in the 
Bible. Do not join the crowd which either neglects 
entirely the Holy Scriptures as the whole source of 
truth, or at best misinterprets it to suit its own ideas. If 
there is anything that can give security in the present world 
of action, it is this only foundation, which is laid in Christ 
Jesus. May this day be a blessed one to all of you, that it 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 505 

may increase you in the knowledge of God, and on His only 
begotten Son, Jesus Christ. — From an address to the pupils 
of a religious institution, at Berlin, in 1886. 

As a Christian monarch, even when, to my sorrow, I have 
to fulfill this royal duty against the servants of a church 
which I suppose acknowledge, no less than the Evangelical 
Church, that the commandments of obedience to secular 
authority is an emanation of the revealed will of God. There 
is one more expression in your letter which I can not pass 
over without contradiction, viz.: the expression that every 
one who has received baptism belongs to the Pope. The 
Evangelical creed, which, as must be known to your Holi- 
ness, does not permit us to accept in our relation to God any 
other mediation than our Lord Jesus Christ." — To Pope Pius 
IX.; see "Life of William /., of Germany" by Archibald 
Forbes. 




WILLIAM THE SILENT, 

Prince of Orange ; Founder of the Dutch Republic. 
(1533-1584.) 

MY God, have mercy upon my soul ! O my God, 
have mercy apon this poor people ! I commit my 
soul to Christ. 

It has pleased God Almighty to dispose of Haar- 
lem according to His Divine will. Shall we, therefore, deny 
and deride His Holy Word? Has the strong arm of the 
Lord thereby grown weaker ? You ask me if I have entered 
into a firm treaty with any great king or potentate, to which 
I answer, that before I took up the cause of the oppressed 
Christians in these provinces I had entered into a close alii- 
ance with the King of kings; and I am firmly convinced 
that all who put their trust in Him shall be saved by His 
almighty arm. — Volume IX, u Short Biographies for the 
People." 




506 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

WILLIAM II., 

Present King of Prussia, and Emperor of Germany. 

.HE only way of protecting the throne and the altar 
against the tendencies of the anarchist and infidel 
party is to reclaim the masses to Christianity and 
the Church, and by that means to respect authority. 
— " Sovereigns and Courts of Europe" 

You know that I regard my position appointed by God, and 
in this consciousness I daily labor; and be assured that 
every morning and evening of my life I begin and end the 
day with prayer for my empire, my realm, and Brandenburg, 
which is so near my heart. — From his address to the Bran- 
denburg Diet, February, 1892. See " The Review of Re- 
views" November, 1892. 




SIR M. MONIER WILLIAMS, 

Boden Professor of Sanscrit in the University of Oxford. 

,AKE that sacred Book of ours ; handle reverently the 
whole volume ; search it through and through, from 
the first chapter to the last, and mark well the spirit 
that pervades the whole. You will find no limpness, 
no flabbiness about its utterances. Vigor and manhood 
breathe in every page. It is downright and straightfor- 
ward, rigid and uncompromising. It tells you and me to be 
either hot or cold. If God be God, serve Him. If Baal be 
God, serve him. We can not serve both. Only one Name 
is given among men whereby we may be saved. No other 
Name, no other Saviour, more suited to India, to Persia, to 
China, to Arabia, is ever mentioned, is ever even hinted at. 
. The non-Christian bibles are all developments in the 
wrong direction. They all begin with some flashes of true 
light and end in utter darkness. Pile them, if you will, on 
the left side of your study table, but place your own Holy 
Bible on the right side — all by itself, all alone — and with a 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 507 

wide gap between. . . . Dare to be downright, with all 
the uncompromising courage of your own Bible, while with 
it your watchwords are love, joy, peace, reconciliation. Be 
fair, be charitable, be Christ-like, but let there be no mistake. 
Let it be made absolutely clear that Christianity can not, 
must not, be watered down to suit the palate of either Hindu, 
Parsee, Confucianist, Buddhist, or Mohammedan, and that 
whosoever wishes to pass from the false religion to the true 
can never hope to do so by the rickety planks of compromise, 
or by help of faltering hands held out by half-hearted Chris- 
tians. He must leap the gulf in faith, and the living Christ 
will spread His everlasting arms beneath, and land him 
safely on the Eternal Rock. — Address at the Anniversary of 
the Church Missionary Society, in Exeter Hall, London, May 
3, 1887. 



GEORGE WILSON, 

Scottish Physician, Chemist, Professor of Technology in the University 

of Edinburg, and Director of the Industrial Museum 

of Scotland. (1818-1859.) 

REJOICE that I have a creed with which I can face 
death and eternity, and which makes this life often a 
joyous worship, and always a patient endurance. My 
prayer is for a closer union to Christ, my Saviour; to 
be able to say, as Thomas did, with my whole 'heart, " My 
Lord, and my God!" to realize to the fullest His personality 
and His humanity; and to walk in His steps as a lowly fol- 
lower, disciple, and servant. 

The healing art is not only the highest of all secular call- 
ings, but it is essentially a Christian calling. The Head of 
our profession is Christ. He left all men an example that 
they should follow His steps, but He left it specially to us. 
It is well that the statues of Hippocrates and ^Esculapius 
should stand outside our College of Physicians, but the liv- 
ing image of our Saviour should be enshrined in our hearts. 
The object of His whole life was the same as ours — the 




508 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

abolishment of pain and death. What we vainly strive to 
effect, He effected. We are the ministers of life, He is the 
Prince of Life. — James Macaulay, Volume VIII, "Short Bi- 
ographies for the People." 



NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS, 

Poet. (1806-1867.) 

v^>S the Word of God (Testament) I prize it, and as the 
gift of my affectionate Father I love it, and shall 
always look upon it as a remembrance of an era in 
my feelings which I hope I shall always be thank- 
ful for. ... I have now the assurance of being an heir 
of life everlasting, and a recipient of the protection which 
the wings of my Saviour's mercy must afford to those who 
are gathered under them. — Page 26 of his Life, by Henry A. 
Beers, in the "American Men of Letters" Series. 




EXTRACT FROM " MOTHER OF CHRIST." 

Luke 2: 19. 

Oh, not alone 
In His pure teachings and in Calvary's woe, 
Lay the blest errand of the Saviour here. 
His walk through life's dark pathway blessed yet more. 
Distant from God, so infinitely far 
Was human weakness, till He came to bear 
With us our weaknesses awhile, that fear 
Had heard Jehovah's voice in thunder only, 
And worshiped trembling. Heaven is nearer now. 
At God's right hand sits One who was a child, 
Born at the humblest, and who here abode 
Till of our life's sorrows He had suffered all. 
They who now weep remember that He wept ; 
The tempted, the despised, the sorrowing feel 
That Jesus, too, drank of these cups of woe. 




MARY AND HER RISEN LORD. 



MARY stood without at the sepulchre weeping . . . She turned herself back r 
and saw Jesus standing . . . Jesus saith unto her, Mary! She . . . 
saith unto Him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch Me 
not; for I am not ascended to My Father . . . Mary Magdalene came and told 
the disciples that she had seen the Lord. — John xx, i i, 14, 16-18. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 509 

JAMES GRANT WILSON, 

General and Author. 

HEN Sir Walter Scott was on his death bed sixty 
years ago, he requested Lockhart to read to him, 
and, on his son-in-law inquiring from what book, 
the dying poet replied: "Why ask? there is but 
one!" To that inspired book — the Bible — and to Jesus 
Christ, the only Saviour, we chiefly owe all that makes life 
worth living in this world — the charity, courtesy, and good 
will that beautify life, with the hope of a better and brighter 
world beyond. 






HENRY WILSON, 

United States Senator. (1812-1875.) 



die 

OD has given us an existence in this Christian repub- 
lic, founded by men who proclaim as their living 
faith, amid persecution and exile: "We give our- 
selves to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of His 
Grace, for the teaching, ruling and sanctifying of us in mat- 
ters of worship and conversation." Privileged to live in 
an age when the selectest influences of the religion of our 
fathers seem to be visibly descending upon our land, we 
too often hear the Providence of God, the religion of our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the inspiration of the Holy 
Bible doubted, questioned, denied with an air of gracious 
condescension. Remember ever, and always, that your 
country was founded, not by the "most superficial, the light- 
est, the most irreflective of all European races," but by the 
stern old Puritans who made the deck of the Mayflower an 
altar of the living God, and whose first act on touching the 
soil of the new world was to offer on bended knees thanks- 
giving to Almighty God. — From mi address before the Young 



510 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

MerCs Christian Association of Natick, Massachusetts, De- 
cember 23, 1866. See "Life of Henry Wilson" by Thomas 
Russell. 

JOHN MOULDER WILSON, 

Colonel of Engineers, and Superintendent of the United States 



o 



Military Academy, West Point, New York. 



COUNT myself honored in having the privilege of 
expressing my sincere belief in the Divinity of Christ, 
and my deep appreciation of the truth, grandeur, and 
inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. 
That profound statesman, that wonderful expounder of 
our Constitution, Daniel Webster, expressed himself in such 
glowing words in regard to the Bible, and its influence upon 
the welfare of our country, that I trust I may be excused for 
repeating his language : "If we abide by the principles 
taught in our Bible, our country will go on prospering and 
to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction 
and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may 
overwhelm us, and bury all our glory in profound obscurity.'* 




JOHN WILSON, 

(CHRISTOPHER NORTH,) 

Scottish Author and Educator. (1785-1854.) 

URN from the oracles of man — still dim even in their 
clearest response — to the oracles of God, which are 
never dark. Bury all your books when you feel the 
night of skepticism gathering around you ; bury them 
all, powerful though you have deemed their spells to illumi- 
nate the unfathomable ; open your Bible and all the spiritual 




A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 511 

world will be bright as day. — "Soliloquy of the Seasons" by 
John Wilson. 

He who is so familiar with the Bible that each chapter, 
open it where he will, teems with household words, may 
draw thence their theme of many a pleasant and pathetic 
song. For is not all human nature and all human life shad- 
owed forth in those pages? But the heart, to sing well from 
the Bible, must be imbued with religious feelings, as a flower 
is alternately with dew and sunshine. The study of the 
Book must have begun in the simplicity of childhood, when 
it was felt to be indeed Divine, and carried on through all 
those silent intervals in which the soul of manhood is re- 
stored, during the din of life, to the purity and peace of its 
early being. The Bible to such must be a port, even as the 
sky, with its sun, moon, and stars ; its boundless blue, with 
all its cloud mysteries ; its peace deeper than the grave, be- 
cause of realms beyond the grave; its tumult louder than 
that of life, because heard altogether in all the elements. — 
Page 459, "Memoirs" by his Daughter, Mrs. Gordon. 




SIR. CHARLES WILSON, 

Director-General of the Ordinance Survey of England. 

*HE opinion I have formed from the surveys and ex- 
cavations in Palestine, and from the discovery of in- 
scriptions, was that the Bible was, of all ancient books, 
the most wonderfully accurate in relation to geo- 
graphical and historical facts. Many of these had now been 
explained ; and the more they knew, the clearer it became 
that the Bible was not wrong in regard to its facts, but that 
the people did not possess sufficient information to under- 
stand them. Quite recently there had been some very won- 
derful discoveries in Egypt; and at Tell Mahuta, not far from 
Tell-el-Kebir, had been found the ruins of the Pithom of the 
Bible. Not only this, but also of the treasure-chamber which 
the children of Israel were employed in building for the 



512 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

Pharaoh " who knew not Joseph." The discovery of this 
town had thrown a good deal of light upon the route taken 
by the Israelites on leaving Egypt. They could not tell 
exactly the route taken, but could draw a line within very 
narrow limits, and were able to say within ten or twelve 
miles which way they went after leaving Egypt for Pales- 
tine. Another late discovery was the excavation of Pharaoh's 
house at Tahapanes, mentioned two or three times in Jere- 
miah, and it was extremely interesting to have uncovered 
the very house named by Jeremiah. In Palestine there had 
been many discoveries, but not of recent date. The latest 
was that of an inscription in the rock-hewn channel which 
conveys the water of the Fountain of the "Virgin" to the 
Pool of Siloam. It was interesting as proving that the lan- 
guage of the Israelites about 700 B. C. was the same pure 
Hebrew that is used in the earlier books of the Bible, and 
was the oldest inscription in the Hebrew yet discovered. — 
Address at a Missionary Service, Southampton, England. 



SIR. DANIEL WILSON, 

President of the University of Toronto. 

|N reply to your letter it seems to me that I shall best 
meet your wishes by noting the popular opinion, not 
only that scientific men are skeptics, but that the 
whole tendency of scientific research is antagonistic to 
a belief of revealed truth. A very little consideration dis- 
closes the source of this misleading error. 

Men do not directly associate the professional life of the 
lawyer, the tradesmen, the artist, or the mechanician with 
his religious belief. It is taken for granted that among 
them, as in the community at large, there are devout Chris- 
tians ; others indifferent to religion, and some avowed un- 
believers. But it is otherwise with the students of science. 
Many questions, such as the six days of creation, the antiq- 
uity of man, the evolutionary hypothesis, the geological and 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 513 

historical evidence of the deluge, etc., are appealed to the 
student of science. In not a few cases his rejection of erro- 
neous interpretations of scientific evidence is mistaken for 
antagonism to revealed truth ; and when he does declare 
himself an agnostic, he is assumed to represent the opin- 
ions of the whole body. 

This is most unjust. The study of the universe, with all 
its wondrous revelations, tells us indeed how little we know. 
But in so doing it begets rather the devout modesty of a 
Newton than the materialistic skepticism of the agnostic. 
When a lawyer, or merchant, however eminent, is known as 
an avowed unbeliever, no one assumes that therefore all 
lawyers and merchants are so. But the agnosticism of a few 
living men of science has been credited, not to them as in- 
dividuals, but to the whole body. In reality, there are prob- 
ably as many skeptical lawyers, tradesmen, and mechanics 
as are to be found among men of science ; while, on the other 
hand, some of the most eminent Christians have been among 
the latter. I need only refer to such names as (*) Ampere, 
Faraday, Sir David Brewster, Clerk Maxwell, Doctor George 
Wilson, Sir William Hamilton, Sir James Simpson, Professor 
Joseph Henry, the great astronomer Adams, and others 
among the most famous scientific men of the present century; 
all of whom were devoted Christians ; willingly sparing time 
from their professional and scientific labors for religious 
work ; holding fast their faith in the Holy Scriptures, and 
quitting themselves like men, in the service of Christ, their 
Lord and Saviour. 




'#0^6 




*The reader is cited to the testimonies of these Scientists in their alpha- 
betical order. 




.514 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

ALEXANDER WINCHELL, 

Professor of Geology, University of Michigan, 1879-1891. 
(1824-1891.) 

.HB history of religions and philosophies is thus the 
confirmation of Christianity. We may, indeed, re- 
gard the Revelation of God to the human soul to be 
genuine and authentic, though not as clear and in- 
fluential as the revelation in the Person and teaching of 
Christ. These two revelations are harmonious, and must be 
so. Greek philosophy had made circulation, from the data 
of human consciousness, that a Saviour was needed ; that a 
-Saviour must be predicated. Paul came to Athens and 
pointed out the Saviour whose want had been felt, giving 
sight to the blind instinct that had been feeling after God, 
and preached a Gospel which fulfilled the prophetic longings 
of the struggling ages of Greek philosophy. 

I desire to inspire your minds with a confidence that the 
interests of religion are by no means in peril. It is un- 
manly to be found quaking with fear. Faith is to experi- 
ence another renaissance. It may not be easy, it may not 
now be possible, to explain how all discordances are to be 
reconciled ; but I entertain the strongest confidence that all 
the conflicts of the passing hour will only result in the 
elimination of a body of truth — religious and secular — more 
beautiful and lovely than any upon which human thought has 
yet been fixed. I wish you to feel brave. I wish you to feel 
strong. I wish you to feel jubilant. I would like to lift my 
arm as high as heaven to signify my steadfast faith in the 
fortunes of our Christianity. I would like to speak with a 
voice which all the terrified should hear, and take heart 
again. I would like to raise a shout which shall fill the 
world at the joy I feel over the coming reconciliation of the 
contending forces, and the final establishment of the har- 
mony and the sacredness of all that truth which God has 
constituted us to accept, for which philosophers have 
thought, poets have dreamed, or martyrs bled. But more 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 515 

than faith sustains me. I am not enveloped in impenetrable 
fog. I have a prophetic discernment of the methods by 
which the new reconciliation is to be effected. It is not a 
new faith that we are to receive ; it is the old, old faith in a 
bright, new vesture. Look, I pray you, at the tendencies of 
the conflicts which the opposing battalions are waging to- 
day. Is the strife between Moses and geology? To my mind 
the inspired epic of Moses presents an accordance with the 
geological history of the world which is almost, if not quite, 
supernatural, and is made more wonderful in the light which 
science has thrown upon it. Even admitting the impossi- 
bility of a circumstantial harmony, all conflict has forever 
vanished. — Pages 226, 289, 356, "Reconciliation of Science 
and Religion" by Alexander Wine he 11. 



JOHANN JOACHIM WINCKELMANN, 

German Archaeologist. (1817-1868.) 

'UTIES flow from this source unto all mankind in 
one family. Herein, until the time of Moses, con- 
sisted the Law and the Prophets. The proof of 
the subsequent Divine Revelation is obtained not 
through the dead letter, but through the Divine motives 
which, as many believers have felt them, I also expect with 
reason to feel within myself in still worship. — Page 22, Vol- 
ume /, " The History of Ancient Art," translated from the 
German of Jolm Winckelmann, by G. Henry Lodge. 




GEORGE T. WINSTON, 

President University of North Carolina. 

O one can read the Bible without seeing that it is as 

far superior to other books as man's spiritual nature 

is superior to his intellect or body. It is a literary 

photograph of God as revealed to spiritual ever 

through all the ages. 




516 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

Jesus Christ is the only Saviour. His character is the 
concentrated embodiment of all that is best in humanity, 
the most miraculous compound of simplicity and complexity, 
of clearness and mystery, of God and Man. He is the Alpha 
and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the 
last. 




^<r/crZ^_ 



WILLIAM WINDOM,* 

United States Senator; Secretary of Treasury under President Garfield. 

(1827-1891.) 

EST I may go and leave you without an opportunity 

to say this, I want you to have the comfort of know- 

[^o ing that if I were to die to-day it would be in the 

sure and peaceful hope of a blessed immortality — that 

hope based not on any worthiness of mine, but solely on a 

firm trust in my living Redeemer. — To his wife; published 

in Washington papers at the time of his sudden death. 





JOHN WINTHROP, 

First Governor of Massachusetts Colony. ( 1588-1649.) 

E of good comfort; the hardest that can come shall be 
a means to mortify this body of corruption, which is 
a thousand times more dangerous to us than any out- 
ward tribulation, and to bring us into nearer com- 
munion with our Lord Jesus Christ, and more assurance of 
His kingdom. — To his wife, dated May 15, 1629. S ee V°^ 
ume VI, u Appleton^s Cyclopedia of American Biography." 

*I have been acquainted with Mr. Windom well for more than twenty 
years, and he was the most consistent Christian I ever knew in public 
life. Eulogy from Ex-Justice William Strong of the United States Su- 
preme Court. 




■:■-■'■■' •■■.■; ■ :: 

illL ^^ 





THE ASCENSION 



H 



E said unto them: ... Ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and 
in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And 
when He had spoken these things, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out 
of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, 
behold two men stood in white apparel; who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why 
stand ye gazing up into heaven ? this same Jesus who is taken up from you into 
heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven. — Acts 
I, 7-i i 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 517 

The Lord hath brought us into a good land; a land where 
we may enjoy outward peace and liberty, and, above all, the 
the blessings of the Gospel, without the burden of imposi- 
tion in matters of religion. Many thousands there are who 
would give great estates to enjoy our condition. Labor, 
therefore, my good son, to increase your thankfulness to God 
for all His mercies to thee, especially for that He hath re- 
vealed His everlasting good will to thee in Jesus Christ. 
But my last and chief request to you is, that you be careful 
to have your children brought up in the knowledge and fear 
of God, and in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. — To his 
son. — See page 211, "John Winthrop, First Governor of Mas- 
sachusetts Colony" by Joseph Hopkins TwichelL 



WILLIAM WIRT, 

Lawyer and Author. (1772-1834.) 

WANT only my blessed Saviour's assurance of pardon 
and acceptance to be at peace. I wish to find no rest 
short of rest in Him. I have no taste for worldly 
business. I go to it reluctantly. I would keep com- 
pany with my Saviour only and the Holy Book. I dread 
the world — the strife and contention and emulation of the 
bar; yet I will do my duty — this is a part of my religion. — 
"Life of William Wirt" by William Pendleton Kennedy. 




JOHN WINTHROP, 

Physicist. (17x4-1779.) 

IS faith upon the Christian religion was founded upon 
an accurate examination of the evidences of its truths, 
and the witness of his life added a lustre to his intel- 
lectual powers and scientific attainments. In his 
family he devoutly maintained the worship of the Supreme 
Being. While he himself attended upon the positive insti- 
tutions of the Gospel, he could not conceive what reason 




5l3 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

anyone who called himself Christian could give for neglect- 
ing them. The day before his death he said "The hope 
that is set before us in the N«ew Testament is the only thing 
which will support a man in his dying hour. If any man 
builds on any other foundation, in my apprehension his 
foundation will fail." — Allen's "American Biography." 



ROBERT CHARLES W1NTHROP, 

Statesman and Author. 

HE Bible itself is its own best witness. No evolution 
produced that Volume, and no revolution of thought, 
or action, or human will can ever prevail against it. 
Revisions and new versions may improve or may im- 
pair the letter, but they can never change its essential char- 
acter. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, through which He 
brought life and immortality to light, like its Divine Author, 
is the same "yesterday, to-day, and forever." 






W. PAGE WOOD, 

(LORD HATHERLEY,) 

Lord Chancellor of England. ( 1801-1881.) 

AUGUST, 1875. To-day we (myself and Lady Hath- 



erley) have just finished our reading of the Bible 
through together for the forty-fourth time. In my 
old age I begin so immensely to prefer the Holy 
Scriptures to all good books of what kind soever. It is 
always new; at least, one always finds something new that 
escaped one's observation at the last reading ; and how won- 
derfully independent it is of a various reading here, or a 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



519 



mistaken translation there, being the whole that it is, a liv- 
ing whole, that is and will be "Spirit and Life" till time 
shall be no more. "Thy Word, O Lord, is settled forever 
in heaven." — Memoir of Lord Hatherley, in "The Crow?i of 
the Road," by Charles Bullock, page 207. 



STEWART LYNDON WOODFORD, 

Lawyer. 

HAVE no hesitation whatever in giving my opinion 
on any subject whereon I have formed one ; and in 
this case I am profoundly impressed with the deep 
conviction that the teachings and inspiration of Jesus 
Christ and the Holy Scriptures are at the core of our civil- 
ization. 




JAMES WOODROW, 

President of South Carolina College. 

BELIEVE in the Word of God ; not of an " unknown 
God," such as the learned Athenians ignorantly wor- 
shiped ; but of the almighty personal God, who 
created the heavens and the earth ; who made man in 
His own image, for his sake sparing not even His only be- 
gotten Son ; yea, in the Word of God, who is the God and 
Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; and who, at 
sundry times and in divers manners, spake in time past 
unto the fathers by the prophets, and hath in these last days 
spoken unto us by His Son ; it is the Word of this God, thus 
spoken, and through His goodness transmitted to us. If we 
examine this Word, with open and candid minds, subjecting 
it to every test by which truth is distinguished from false- 
hood, we will most assuredly find it true in every syllable, 



520 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

wholly free from error, the very word of the Lord God of 
truth and righteousness ; and therefore a guide on which we 
may most securely rest. From this glorious Revelation we 
learn that Jesus Christ took on Himself our nature that He 
might suffer and die in our stead, and thus cleanse us from 
all sin. With many years of experience and observation I 
testify that no man whom I have known, or of whom I have 
ever heard, has taken heed to His way according to God's 
Word, whose way was not thereby made spotlessly clean. 



^¥~(X^^^tJ) 



SAMUEL WOODWORTH, 

Poet. (1785-1842.) 




THE CRUCIFIXION. 

)t EEPING Mary, bathed in sorrow, 
lingered near the scene of horror, 

^ Where the dying Saviour hung; 
From whose bursting heart arising, 
Groans of anguish agonizing 
Floated o'er His fevered tongue. 

Oh, what sorrow, deep, unbounded, 
That maternal bosom wounded, 

Once the Saviour's couch of rest ! 
How she wept to see Him languish, 
How she trembled for the anguish 

Laboring in His guiltless breast! 

While such pangs as fiends invented 
Still her suffering Son tormented, 

Scorn and bruises, stripes and death 
She beheld Him thus expiring, 
Human friends for fear retiring, 
Whilst in groans He spent His breath. 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 521 

Matchless mercy, love amazing ! 
Far above our feeble praising, 

Far beyond our humble lays ; 
May its influence never vary, 
Till my heart, like that of Mary, 

Glows with a seraphic blaze. 

Gracious Saviour, now in glory, 
Be this sad, affecting story 

Deeply on my soul imprest ! 
May the scene of such affliction 
Bring the hardest heart conviction, 

Melt the most obdurate breast ! 



WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 

English Poet-Laureate. (1770-1850.) 





TRUST IN THE SAVIOUR. 



UT Thou art true, Incarnate Lord ! 
Who didst vouchsafe for man to die : 
Thy smile is sure, Thy plighted Word 
No charge can falsify. 



522 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

HYMN FOR THE BOATMAN. 

Jesu, bless our slender boat, 
By the current swept along ! 

Loud its threatenings — let them not 
Drown the music of a song 

Breathed Thy mercy to implore, 

"Where the troubled waters roar. 

Saviour, for our warning, seen 
Bleeding on that precious rood ; 

If, while through the meadows green 
Gentry wound the peaceful flood, 

We forget Thee, do not Thou 

Disregard Thy suppliants now. 



TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE. 

But to outweigh all harm, the sacred Book, 

In dusty sequestration wrapt too long, 

Assumes the accents of our native tongue ; 

And he who guides the plow or wields the crook 

With understanding spirit now may look 

Upon her records, listen to her song, 

And sift her laws — much wondering that'the wrong 

Which Faith hath suffered, Heaven could calmly brook. 

Transcendent boon ! Noblest that earthly king 

Ever bestowed to equalize and bless 

Under the weight of mortal wretchedness. 



SIR HENRY WOTTON, 

English Diplomat and Author. (1568-1639.) 

jN the name of God Almighty and All-merciful, I, 
Henry Wotton, Provost of His Majesty's College of 
Eton, being mindful of mine own mortality, which the 
sin of our first parents did bring upon all flesh, do, by 
this last Will and Testament thus dispose of myself, and the 
poor things I shall leave in this world. My soul I bequeath 
to the immortal God, my Maker, Father of our Lord Jesus 



A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 



523 



Christ, my blessed Redeemer and Mediator, through His all 
sole-suffering satisfaction for the sins of the whole world, 
and efficient for His elect, in the number of whom I am one 
by His mere grace, and therefore immeasurably assured by 
the Holy Spirit, the true and eternal Comforter. ... I 
wish to be laid as near as may be to the sepulchre of my good 
father, expecting a joyful resurrection with him in the day 
of Christ. — Page 147, " Walton' 1 s Lives.' 1 '' 



CARROLL DAVIDSON WRIGHT, 

Statistician and Commissioner of Labor. 

BELIEVE that in the adoption of the philosophy of 
the religion of Jesus Christ as a practical creed for 
the conduct of business lies the surest and speediest 
solution of those industrial difficulties which are ex- 
isting in the minds of men to-day, and leading many to 
think that the crisis of government is at hand. 




I assure you that, whatever you may be told to the con- 
trary, the teaching of Christianity among one hundred and 
sixty millions of civilized, industrious Hindus and Moham- 
medans in India is effecting changes — moral, social, and poli- 
tical — which for extent and rapidity of effect are far more 
extraordinary than anything you or your fathers have wit- 
nessed in modern Europe. — Sir Bar tie Frere, Governor of 
Bombay, in his Lecture : "Christianity suited to all forms of 
Civilization," and delivered before the Christian Evidence So- 
ciety, London. 



524 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES. 

CHARLES AUGUSTUS YOUNG, 

Scientist; Professor of Astronomy in Princeton College. 

ACCEPT the Bible as the Word of God, revealing the 
law of love and holiness which ought to govern hu- 
man intercourse, and which alone can remedy the 
evils and right the wrongs of society. 
In Jesus Christ, our Lord, I find the type and example 
of the highest manhood made perfect in the image of its 
Maker ; and, what is more, the Divine Redeemer, delivering 
all who trust in Him from both the penalty and power of 
sin, and by the Holy Spirit guiding them to ultimate per- 
fection of character. 



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